Cheshire Ending Mask Requirement In Municipal Buildings

CHESHIRE, CT — Vaccinated people will no longer be required to wear masks in municipal facilities in Cheshire beginning Monday, Feb. 28, officials recently announced.

“We continue to welcome mask wearing by all individuals who choose to do so, and strongly encourage everyone to wear a mask when meeting closely with others when social distancing cannot be maintained,” officials wrote in a post on the town’s website.

Vaccinated employees are not required to wear masks, except for operators of the Senior Center minibuses.

COVID-19 cases and positivity rate numbers in Cheshire have been “falling rapidly over the past three weeks” and allowed the town to ease its protocols, according to Town Manager Sean Kimball.

“Most importantly, numbers of hospitalizations and deaths have been falling statewide and the data shows that these critical metrics did not rise as rapidly as overall cases during the recent Omicron variant wave,” according to Kimball’s COVID-19 update. “Combined with Cheshire’s high local vaccination rate (86.04 percent of Cheshire residents of all ages), we are on our way to transitioning back to more normal times.”

Superintendent of Schools Jeff Solan also recently announced that Cheshire Public Schools will be mask-optional starting March 1.