The Town of West Hartford will impose a local universal indoor mask mandate, regardless of vaccination status, effective at noon today and until further notice.
The indoor mask mandate will require everyone to wear a mask in any indoor place in town. It does not apply to residences. The exceptions are for people who are more than six feet apart, people with a medical condition, behavioral condition, or disability that prevents them from wearing a mask, anyone under the age of 2 years and when people are eating and drinking.
Last week, town officials said they would issue an indoor mask mandate if West Hartford reached high community transmission level, or “red zone.”
The State Department of Public Health defines that as an average daily case rate of 15 or more per 100,000 people and local officials said the West Hartford-Bloomfield Health District reported that West Hartford has now exceeded that threshold with 16.7 cases per 100,000 population.
Get top local stories in Connecticut delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Connecticut's News Headlines newsletter.
“We all want to keep our communities safe while keeping schools, towns, and businesses open,” Mayor Shari Cantor said in a statement. “Please, if you have not been vaccinated, do so to protect yourself, your family and your community. Vaccines are safe, free and easier than ever to obtain.”
Several Connecticut cities and towns have issued an indoor mask mandate. See the list here.
