OLD TOWN, Maine — Masks are once again required inside all Old Town municipal buildings and facilities, marking another municipality’s response to the rising number of COVID-19 cases across the state.
In a public notice posted to Facebook on Monday, the city said it is starting to require face coverings in all its facilities in line with U.S. CDC recommendations effective Monday.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status if there is substantial transmission of the virus in their community, defined as 50 or more cases per 100,000 people at a county level on a weekly basis.
By Saturday, all but one Maine county met CDC mask-wearing thresholds. As of late last week, Penobscot County had the second highest rate of new cases in Maine for the previous two weeks.
Currently, 73 percent of Old Town residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to data from Maine CDC.