Stamford Eyes Possible Return of Indoor Mask Mandate After Cases Jump

A Connecticut city could once again implement an indoor mask mandate in light of rising COVID-19 concerns on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Stamford Mayor David Martin tells News 4 he’s ready to decide by Tuesday whether the city’s new mask-wearing recommendation will revert back to a mandate.

The city implemented an indoor mask mandate back on Aug. 12 that was aimed at slowing the spread of the Delta variant.

“As evident by the City’s diminishing number Covid cases, the use of masks over the past few months has served to significantly decrease the spread of this virus in Stamford,” Martin said last month when the mandate dropped.

Now an “alarming” upward trend in positive cases has the Stamford mayor rethinking the city’s approach to masking. On Friday, the health department issued an advisory urging residents to resume the use of face coverings indoors, citing a “substantial rise” in cases.

According to the department, positive cases of COVID-19 have doubled with a two-week period. To curb the spread of the virus, officials want people to wear face masks in private businesses, congregate settings, schools and childcare centers, municipal buildings and on public transportation.

“We are imploring residents who have not yet received the vaccine to do so to minimize the risk of hospitalization or even death as a result of Covid-19,” Acting Director of Health Jody Bishop-Pullan said in Friday’s announcement. “However, those who are vaccinated should still wear a face mask whenever out in public or indoors around others to combat the spread of the virus.”