New London and the Town and City of Groton will join a growing number of municipalities in the state with an indoor mask mandate in the face of rising infections from the delta variant of the COVID-19 virus.

New London Mayor Michael Passero, Groton Town Manager John Burt and City of Groton Mayor Keith Hedrick have agreed on an emergency declaration that will take effect on Monday that requires a facial covering be worn regardless of vaccination status in all indoor public spaces, such as retail stores, restaurants, supermarkets and entertainment venues. Masks already are required in many local government buildings.

“I’m following the advice of Ledge Light Health District, the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and the encouragement of the governor. I believe the benefits that the masks will provide us, especially in protecting our unvaccinated children and people with compromised immune systems, greatly outweighs the inconvenience to the general public,” Passero said.

“I respect each municipality has to make a decision of what’s right for their municipality,” Burt said.

But with Ledge Light Health District reporting the number of positive coronavirus cases rising, “I’d rather be ahead of the curve on this, even if we can save one life or keep one person out of the hospital it’s well worth doing,” Burt added.

Groton City Mayor Keith Hedrick said he decided on the mask mandate because of the shared borders between Groton and New London and an attempt to provide some consistency for the public. He said he recognizes the fact that not everyone will be receptive to the idea but COVID-19 cases have continued to rise over the past month.

“At some point you have to step up as a municipal leader and make a decision in order to protect the citizens in your municipality,” Hedrick said. “There are some people that are not going to like that ... but it’s about doing the right thing for the citizens in the City of Groton.”

The New London and Groton actions came after the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments held an emergency teleconference Wednesday morning to discuss whether the region should enact an indoor mask mandate.

SCCOG Executive Director James Butler said 20 of the 22 member municipalities attended, along with representatives from the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes, the Coast Guard Academy and Naval Submarine Base. Ledge Light, Uncas and the Chatham health districts also were represented.

Butler said no votes were taken, and the towns were "evenly divided" on whether the region or individual towns should issue mandates. They agreed by consensus that SCCOG would issue a public statement strongly urging people throughout the region wear masks in indoor public spaces.

"The SCCOG urges the region and its residents to comply with this minor inconvenience during this unprecedented public health crisis," said the SCCOG statement, signed by its chairman, Ledyard Mayor Fred Allyn III. "While wearing a mask indoors might be inconvenient or uncomfortable, it can help prevent the transmission of this coronavirus and thus save lives."

Norwich City Manager John Salomone said he will not recommend an indoor mask mandate for Norwich at this point. He supports a statewide or regionwide mandate, but said a mixture of decisions by individual towns would be difficult and confusing for shoppers, diners and employees.

"Regional is better than local, and statewide is better than regional," Salomone said. "I review what’s going on, and at this point if it gets to be generally regional, I would consider it. The group was split down the middle. There was no consensus at all."

He said he is not receiving pressure from anyone in Norwich either to enact an indoor mask mandate or not to do it.

East Lyme First Selectman Mark Nickerson, a member SCCOG’s Executive Committee, said he proposed the idea of a "strongly worded" message from the council encouraging local businesses to require masks regardless of vaccination status.

“I think it’s an individual business decision at this point," he said. "It’s going to be encouraged, and I think that can go a long way.”

Nickerson said one big sticking point during the SCCOG meeting was that municipal mandates are not enforceable as a practical matter. “I can’t have my police force standing outside Stop and Shop and Costco” to make sure people are wearing masks, he said.

Nickerson said another point was that people now have a choice to become vaccinated, “whereas before there was no option, and we were all masked up because that was our only defense."

Lyme First Selectman Steve Mattson said he was invited to the SCCOG meeting, although the town belongs to the Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments with towns from Middlesex County.

He said he will institute a mask requirement in all municipal facilities starting Monday. But he said the small town doesn’t have a business base that would make a broader mask mandate practical.

“We’re doing what the health districts want in moving back to a little more stringent stance, but they understand we don’t have restaurants, bars and anything else in town,” Mattson said.

Waterford First Selectman Robert Brule and Montville Mayor Ronald McDaniel said they would not mandate indoor masks in their respective towns.

“I feel that if it is not done across the state, it will be ineffective,” McDaniel said. “I do fully support any business’ right to choose what is best for them.”

Letter to the governor

The council of governments also sent a letter to Gov. Ned Lamont urging him to reconsider his position to leave it up to cities and towns and asking him to issue a statewide indoor mask mandate for public buildings until the state's counties no longer are in the CDC's substantial or high coronavirus transmission categories. To date, five of the state's eight counties are in high category, including New London County, and the remaining three are listed as substantial.

Lamont on Aug. 5 signed an executive order that empowers municipal leaders to require masks but has balked at a statewide order like the one that had been in place last year. The SCCOG letter to Lamont said town-by-town mandates would not be as "impactful" as a state mandate.

"We thoroughly discussed the positive impact on health that an indoor mask-wearing mandate would have," the SCCOG letter to Lamont said, "but we also note the difficulty that individual towns would have in enforcing a mandate at the municipal level."

Lamont has repeatedly said in recent weeks that he would leave mask mandates up to municipalities, and to let private enterprises decide whether patrons need to wear masks or provide proof of vaccination. He has cited the state’s solid vaccination rate for avoiding aggressive mask mandates.

“Some people want a one-size-fits-all, statewide-do-everything," Lamont said at Wednesday’s news conference. "I think what we’re doing town by town makes sense. I'm finding businesses, I'm finding restaurants and I'm finding mayors know their communities really well. I’m not sure that we need a statewide mandate regarding masks at this point."

“There is currently an executive order mandating that all unvaccinated individuals wear masks while indoors and the CDC strongly recommends wearing masks in indoor settings, guidance Gov. Lamont and the Department of Public Health have urged individuals to follow," Lamont spokesman Max Reiss said in an emailed statement late Wednesday night. "Getting and encouraging vaccinations against COVID-19 continue to be the best way to protect yourself and your loved one against the virus and the governor continues to urge all elected officials to pursue those efforts in their communities.”

Discussions to continue

While larger cities such as Hartford and New Haven already have issued mask orders, Passero said he had held out hope for a regional decision and implementation of a mandate, because of the close ties and porous borders between the smaller southeastern Connecticut towns.

The CDC earlier this month changed the level of coronavirus transmission in New London County from substantial to high, where it remained this week. High transmission is either 100 or more cases per 100,000 people, or a positivity rate above 10%, over the past seven days.

“The Town is in regular discussions with Ledge Light Health District and our neighboring municipalities on the status of the virus as well (as) how best to respond,” Groton Town Manager Burt said in a statement. “The Town is currently surrounded by municipalities that are in the highest category of cases in COVID rating system, with cases expected to continue to climb. Ledge Light, Uncas, and Chatham Health Districts support the CDC and (state Department of Public Health) position that masks should be worn in all indoor public settings.”

He said the order would be “regularly reviewed as we move forward.”

Passero said he is holding out hope for a regional mandate and SCCOG will hold another teleconference at 8:30 a.m. next Wednesday.

Stephen Mansfield, director of health for Ledge Light Health District, said in an email that the delta variant makes up approximately 90% of all coronavirus infections in the state, and there has been a surge of cases locally and statewide.

“Approximately 35% of people in New London County are not fully vaccinated, and we have seen about a 40% increase in new COVID cases. Hospitalizations are also up approximately 11%,” he said.

“We support the CDC and DPH position that masks should be worn in all indoor public settings," Mansfield said in his email. "We also support the SCCOG membership, most of whom currently have mask mandates in place in municipal buildings, in strongly encouraging the use of face coverings in public indoor spaces. The health districts will work closely with those municipalities that choose to issue a local mandate requiring face coverings in all public indoor spaces."

Day Staff Writers Elizabeth Regan, Johana Vazquez and Sten Spinella contributed to this report.

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