South Portland dropped its city-wide indoor mask mandate Wednesday, four weeks after it was enacted to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 transmissions.
The mask mandate inside municipal buildings will end on Thursday.
The city-wide mandate was put into effect Jan. 24 due to the rise in the spread of COVID-19 as a result of the omicron variant. It created controversy, spawning arguments for and against it from residents and businesses at City Council meetings and workshops in January.
Six out of seven councilors at a workshop Tuesday were in favor of lifting the mandate, according to a press release from the city.
In the release, the city also encourages residents to continue to to wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less