Two Maine communities are doing away with their face mask mandates.
Portland is dropping the indoor mask mandate, but businesses can still enforce their own mask policies for customers.
Portland’s mask mandate, which just took effect in early January, meant anyone over the age of two had to wear a mask in a public, indoor space.
The Portland City Council chose to repeal the public mandate last week, despite mixed reviews among counselors.
Mayor Kate Snyder said that she supports transitioning to a state of mind where the city looks at how we’re going to live with COVID moving forward.
Portland isn’t the only community making this change.
Freeport is also reportedly rolling back its mandate, according to the Times Record. However, individual businesses can enforce their own rules just like Portland.
This comes as COVID hospitalizations continue to decline in Maine. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention says it plans to revisit its recommendations on masking in schools and see if changes are needed after the February break next week.
“We will take into account the favorable trends that we’ve seen. We’ll look for stability in those trends and keep an eye out for upswings related to next week’s vacation,” Maine CDC Director Nirav Shah said.