Fairfield Mask Mandate Starts Monday

FAIRFIELD, CT — Face masks will soon be required indoors in public places in Fairfield, the first selectwoman announced Thursday, a week after she said the town would not impose a mask mandate.

The rule will take effect Monday and is part of a regional response to minimize the spread of the highly transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus, according to a town news release, which noted Westport and Easton would join Fairfield in enforcing a temporary mandate.

“Transmission doesn’t stop at our borders, and since the governor has left it up to local authorities rather than a statewide approach, we are forced to look at a regional one,” First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick said in a news release.

Nearby cities Norwalk and Bridgeport rolled out a mask mandate earlier in the month.

“The Fairfield Health Department’s contact tracers are interviewing families in which multiple household members, regardless of vaccination status, are testing positive, presumably due to the high transmissibility of the predominant delta variant,” Kupchick said in the news release.

The mandate will apply to residents over 2 years of age, regardless of vaccination status. State policy dictates unvaccinated people must wear masks indoors.

The move to require masks in town comes after Kupchick received a letter over the weekend from several medical and public health professionals who live in Fairfield, including doctors and professors affiliated with the Yale School of Public Health, Yale School of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Sacred Heart University Department of Public Health.

“The delta variant, currently the most prevalent strain in Connecticut, is highly infectious and more fatal than previous strains,” the letter said, citing rising case counts in Fairfield and the ability for unvaccinated children to become severely ill or transmit the virus.

“It is imperative that the town uphold and enforce CDC mask guidance for communities with substantial COVID transmission until we achieve a higher level of vaccination and the prevalence of COVID decreases in our community.”

Fairfield’s Board of Selectmen on Monday discussed the decision to hold off on a mandate. Kupchick cited relatively low hospitalization rates, Selectman Tom Flynn remarked that overusing a mandate might lead the public to disregard it, and Health Department Director Sands Cleary said his intention was to protect public health in the least restrictive way possible.

Selectwoman Nancy Lefkowitz supported a mask requirement.

“(In) vaccinated people, we are seeing those breakthrough infections and transmissions,” she said. “For a relatively low inconvenience on the scale of what we have experienced, this is an opportunity to prevent some of that.”

The day after the Board of Selectmen meeting, police were called to a Fairfield school board policy committee meeting when a dispute broke out over masking rules at the event. Fairfield students return to school Aug. 30, and the governor has ordered masks be required in schools through September.

As of Thursday, there was a total of 5,518 recorded coronavirus cases in Fairfield, an increase of 237 cases compared to a month prior, according to state data. Between June 18 and July 19, the town's case total went up by only 26. Coronavirus transmission was classified Wednesday as high in Fairfield County, and, with a two-week rate of 15.7 cases per 100,000 residents, Fairfield falls under the red coronavirus alert level.

“Town leaders want to remind residents that the most effective way to prevent serious illness and hospitalization is to get vaccinated,” the news release said. “The state Department of Public Health reports that the large majority of hospitalizations in Connecticut and around the country are among unvaccinated individuals.”

Just over 65 percent of Fairfield residents are fully vaccinated, according to state data. To find a location to receive the vaccine, residents can text their zip code to GETVAX.