Mayor Simmons orders mask mandate for Stamford

In the wake of increasing Covid-19 cases, Stamford Mayor Caroline Simmons has issued a new mask mandate for the city.

The open-ended mandate, which took effect Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m., requires face masks in all of Stamford”™s indoor public places, regardless of the individual”™s vaccination status. Businesses face $100 fines if their employees are found by city inspectors to be without a mask, and residents also face $100 fines if they refuse to be masked while indoors.

In announcing the mandate, Simmons noted Stamford’s Covid case rate has quadrupled since Thanksgiving, with more than 40 cases per 100,000 on a seven-day average. She added that Stamford Hospital is also recording an increase in Covid-related hospitalizations.

“We feel this is an extremely important measure as we head into the holiday season, and with rising cases that we’re seeing in Stamford, my number one priority is to keep the people of this city safe and healthy,” she said. “This is based on strong guidance and recommendations from our public health experts at the city level, as well as at Stamford Hospital.”

Simmons also acknowledged that “we’re all tired of wearing our masks, but I’m just asking the public if we can all hang in there just a little longer, do our duty to take this seriously, wear our masks when we’re indoors. Hopefully, a month from now we’ll be standing here and we’ll see a drop in cases and we’ll reassess where we are.”