The challenge of personal choice and compliance in a pandemic

With the number COVID-19 infections falling across much of Massachusetts, is it time to end mask mandates and begin a transition to some kind of new normal?

It's a question that many communities are beginning to grapple with. It's not just about science; it's about how the science should inform public policy. Towns and officials are not finding it straightforward.

City officials in Worcester will vote Monday night on the question of whether or not to lift a city-wide mask mandate that's been in place for the past five months, and Worcester isn't the first to take on this question: Lowell, Beverly, and Mansfield are among other Massachusetts communities to drop a mask mandate.

Dr. Michael Hirsh, medical director for the city of Worcester, and Professor Leonard Marcus, founder and director of the Program for Health Care Negotiation and Conflict Resolution at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, join us to take a look at how communities are handling these questions.