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Health & Human Services Department Kristen Dow, Director: of Substantial or High Transmission

The Health and Human Services Department recommends that the City of Portland adopt an indoor mask mandate based on the following: - Cumberland County has a high COVID-19 transmission rate and rising positivity rate. - The CDC recommends indoor masking even for vaccinated individuals in areas of substantial or high transmission. - Maine hospitals are overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients and have limited ICU capacity. - A mask mandate could help lower transmission and take pressure off of hospitals.

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2K views

Health & Human Services Department Kristen Dow, Director: of Substantial or High Transmission

The Health and Human Services Department recommends that the City of Portland adopt an indoor mask mandate based on the following: - Cumberland County has a high COVID-19 transmission rate and rising positivity rate. - The CDC recommends indoor masking even for vaccinated individuals in areas of substantial or high transmission. - Maine hospitals are overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients and have limited ICU capacity. - A mask mandate could help lower transmission and take pressure off of hospitals.

Uploaded by

NEWS CENTER Maine
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Health & Human Services Department

Kristen Dow, Director

MEMORANDUM

To: Jon P Jennings, City Manager

From: Kristen Dow, Director of Health & Human Services


Tina Pettingill, Deputy Director of Health & Human Services

Date: September 1, 2021

Re: Staff Recommendations for City of Portland Indoor Mask Mandate

At the August 23rd City Council meeting, it was requested that staff from the City’s Health and
Human Services Department provide information on transmission rates and the
recommendations on a mask mandate in the City. Since that time, staff from the HHS
Department have reviewed local, state and national data, trends and policies, consulted with the
Maine CDC, and reviewed recommendations from local area hospitals. From this research, the
following information was gathered:

● With few exceptions, Cumberland County has been wavering between substantial and
high transmission rate throughout August.
● Even with a relatively high vaccination rate in Cumberland County (83.4% of eligible
populations fully vaccinated), the County positivity rate hovers between 2.5-3%, rising
from 1% earlier this summer. Given new evidence on the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant, as of
August 13, 2021, the CDC recommends masking when indoors for vaccinated and
unvaccinated individuals. “If you are fully vaccinated, to maximize protection from the
Delta variant and prevent possibly spreading it to others, wear a mask indoors in public if
you are in an area of substantial or high transmission.”
● CDC recommendation includes K-12 school age children, recommending universal
indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of
vaccination status.
● Maine CDC stated that they would not take a specific stance on a mask mandate but
urged the City to follow US CDC protocols which include masking in indoor
environments.
● Masks have been proven to reduce COVID-19 transmission. Masks reduce the emission
of virus-laden droplets and the inhalation of these droplets by the wearer. “The
community benefit of masking for SARS-CoV-2 control is due to the combination of
these effects; individual prevention benefit increases with increasing numbers of people
using masks consistently and correctly.”
● Maine hospitals are at or near capacity with high new admission rates and a shortage of
ICU beds to treat all diseases due to the COVID-19 surge. According to the 8/26 press
conference, Maine Medical Center’s emergency department is full with patients having to
stay in the emergency department because beds are not available.
● Maine hospital leaders pleaded with the general public through a joint press conference
on August 26 to “get vaccinated if you are eligible, wear a mask indoors, practice
physical distancing, clean your hands and use discretion when it comes to attending
indoor gatherings.”
● Unlike earlier waves of this pandemic, young children (not eligible for vaccination) are
impacted and being hospitalized.
● As of 8/31/21, seven states (Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon
and Washington), as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have mandated
indoor mask use.
● Over 40 cities and counties across the US have issued, or re-issued, mask mandates
including Raleigh, St. Louis, Baltimore, Atlanta, Lincoln and many others. Boston
imposed a citywide mask mandate on Aug. 20 which covers all people over age 2 in
indoor public places except when eating or drinking.
● 75% of Americans support masking requirements and these mandates have proven to be
effective in lowering community transmission of COVID-19.

HHS Staff Recommendations

It is the recommendation of staff that the City adopts a mandatory indoor mask mandate in all
indoor public places in the City of Portland. We recommend the mandate go into effect
immediately and remain until the CDC releases new mask guidance or when the Cumberland
County transmission rate falls into the low or moderate level for at least 21 consecutive days.

Support and Enforcement

As with previous masking requirements, the City remains committed to supporting local
businesses. Staff can provide signage and supplies to businesses as had been provided previously.
A large body of research has shown that signs are effective in changing behavior in a variety of
settings with between 75-96% of people complying with signage. Additionally, 85% of
Americans are currently wearing a mask for all or most of the time.

If there are community concerns around non-compliance of the mandate, those complaints can be
directed to our Local Health Officer (LHO) in the City’s Public Health Division.

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