Stamford To Lift City-Wide Mask Mandate Effective Feb. 16

STAMFORD, CT — Citing declining COVID-19 case numbers and hospitalizations, Mayor Caroline Simmons announced on Friday that Stamford will lift its city-wide mask mandate, effective Feb. 16.

Masks will still be required in hospitals, nursing homes, health care and childcare facilities, schools, municipal buildings and on public transit. The Stamford Board of Education is expected to meet next week to discuss masking policy.

Simmons made the announcement on Friday in front of the Stamford Government Center along with city health officials.

According to the latest data, Stamford’s current seven-day average in cases per 100,000 has declined from an omicron peak of 334.3 to 17.3 over the last few weeks. The current daily positivity rate is 7 percent, and as of Friday morning, there were 15 COVID-19 patients being treated at Stamford Hospital.

The city expects to see those numbers continue to decline, and by next week, indicators should be below the level of high community transmission, Simmons said.

The numbers in Stamford follow trends seen around the state. According to the city, 143 of 169 towns (85 percent) currently saw declines in case rate over the previous week, and 93 percent of towns saw declines the week prior. Cases in Stamford and its neighboring towns are among the lowest in Connecticut.

"We are in a much better place than we were with respect to COVID-19 a month-and-a-half ago. When we stood here on Dec. 21, we were seeing a spike in hospitalizations in our daily case rate, and we were seeing an increase in the highly contagious omicron variant being spread across our community," Simmons said.

"We're excited to announce today that because of the cooperation and mitigation measures that we put in place, we will be lifting the mask mandate, effective Wednesday, Feb. 16 for the community," Simmons said.

Simmons thanked the residents of Stamford for stepping-up and following the mask mandate over the last two months. She also thanked business owners for cooperating under difficult circumstances.

Businesses will still be able to set their own policy, Simmons said. Since the mandate was put in place in December, the city did not issue any citations or warnings to businesses who weren't in compliance.

Even though the mandate will be lifted, officials urged residents to remain vigilant against the coronavirus.

"It's really up to each individual to do the right thing and take personal responsibility to keep this pandemic under control," said Dr. Asha Shah, director of infectious diseases at Stamford Hospital. "That's holding each other accountable to continue to follow safety measures like getting vaccinated, getting boosted, staying home when you're sick and getting tested, and also staying home when you've been exposed to COVID-19 to limit the spread in the community."

Dr. Henry Yoon, Stamford's medical advisor, pointed out that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommends the use of masks in certain situations.

"At this stage in the game, we're not quite prepared to abandon the use of masks, but using them more judiciously and appropriately under different conditions," he said.

Acting Health Director Jody Bishop-Pullan said she was proud of how the city responded during the omicron spike. She said over that time, the city has increased testing and vaccination capacity.

For more information on testing and vaccines in the city, click here.

As for the future, Simmons said her administration and health officials will continue to monitor COVID-19 data.

"This virus is changing. We've learned that over the past two years as variants form, they potentially become less severe and more transmissible," noted Shah. "If we see that trend continue with the next variant that will come, then maybe that will cause us to shift our strategy to mask in certain populations."

Shah said the public has all the tools necessary to fight the pandemic and keep cases low.

"We have all the tools to protect us from severe disease and hospitalization from COVID. If individuals use those tools more readily, like vaccines and testing, then we may be able to relax some of the more widespread mask mandates in the future," she said. "But it remains to be seen."