Indoor Mask Mandate Reinstituted In Stratford

STRATFORD, CT — With coronavirus cases on the rise in Stratford, Mayor Laura R. Hoydick has reinstituted the indoor mask requirement for all town buildings.

The requirement for wearing face masks for all staff and visitors to all town buildings and facilities regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status is being reinstituted effective with the start of business on Monday, Dec. 6, Hoydick announced on Friday.

Employees and visitors will be required to wear masks at all times in common areas, according to Hoydick.

Hoydick announced the change in consideration of a statewide spike in COVID-19 transmission with 134 of the state’s 169 towns and cities including Stratford back in the “red zone” this week as calculated by the State Department of Health. The “red” characterization applies to towns and cities with a transmission rate of 15 new cases per 100,000 people or higher during a given two-week period.

The face mask requirement will apply to all town buildings, including but not limited to Town Hall, the Baldwin Center, South End Community Center, Birdseye Municipal Complex, as well as the police and fire departments.

“With another statewide spike in COVID transmission upon us we are putting this mandate in place as an added precaution, particularly during the Holiday season, to guard against transmission,” Hoydick said in a statement.

Hoydick noted that for those wishing to be vaccinated there are many available options from local health departments, pharmacies and hospitals. She also noted that individual businesses remain, as they have throughout the pandemic, able to set their own individual policies about mask use in their place of business for employees and patrons.