Maine’s largest city is lifting its indoor mask requirement.
Portland Mayor Kate Snyder proposed extending the pandemic-related mask mandate for indoor public spaces through March 7, but the City Council instead voted 7-2 Monday evening to scrap the mandate, effective in 10 days.
Maine is seeing a decline in hospitalizations and in positive test results submitted to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. But the U.S. Center for Disease Control continues to classify Cumberland County as an area of “high transmission.”
Snyder said she supported the council’s decision to end the mandate, which had gone into effect Jan. 3.
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“I do think we’re transitioning to a new place that forces us to figure out how we’re going to live with this thing,” she said.
Some councilors said they are interested in revisiting the mandate if COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations start to increase again.
