When the City Council next meets, it will hold a third and final reading for a face-mask ordinance and Assistant Mayor Jim Splaine will propose a partial exemption for first responders.
Splaine’s proposed amendment includes the wording, “Exempted from the requirements of the ordinance requiring the wearing of face coverings include law enforcement personnel, first responders, or other workers actively engaged in their tasks if wearing a face covering may hinder their performance.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mask advisory doesn’t include exemptions for first responders, and in neighboring Durham, where the student population could be compared to Portsmouth’s tourist population, there is no exemption. Portsmouth police and fire officials explained their current mask protocols, which indicate little to nothing would change if Splaine’s exemption is passed.