COVID

Lexington adopts indoor mask mandate

The town joins a small but growing list of Massachusetts communities requiring face coverings in indoor public spaces amid an uptick in COVID-19 cases.

Signs in Belmont, which passed an indoor mask mandate earlier this week. Christiana Botic for The Boston Globe

By Dialynn Dwyer

August 13, 2021

1 minute to read

Lexington is the latest Massachusetts community that will require masks be worn in indoor public spaces.

The new mandate, adopted by the Board of Public Health on Thursday, will go into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 18.

In a statement, officials said the move was made in response to the highly contagious Delta variant driving an increase in COVID-19 cases both locally and nationally.

Starting on Aug. 18, face coverings will be required for all individuals age 2 and older in “all indoor public spaces, houses of worship, or private spaces open to the public, except where an individual is unable to wear a face covering due to a medical condition or disability.”

Under the mandate, customers in food service establishments can only take off face coverings when seated. At fitness centers and health clubs, workers, customers, and visitors must wear masks during all fitness activity.

“At Personal Services establishments, including, but not limited to, barber shops, hair and nail salons, all customers and workers are required to wear face coverings, except for skin or beard care that occurs on the face, where the customer may temporarily remove the face covering but must immediately put the face covering back on for the remainder of the visit,” the town said.

The mandate does not apply to outdoor spaces.

A small but growing number of municipalities in Massachusetts, including neighboring Belmont, have been adopting similar mandates out of concern for the circulating Delta variant and uptick in cases across the state.