Nantucket Issues Indoor Mask Mandate After Emergency Meeting

NANTUCKET (CBS) -- The Nantucket Board of Health passed an indoor mask mandate after an emergency meeting on Thursday. Officials said it comes amid a "significant increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations" due to the highly contagious Delta variant.

Both customers and staff at a wide variety of venues are required to wear masks. The board said the order applies to those inside businesses, clubs, retail stores, restaurants, bars, performance venues, social clubs, event spaces, places of worship and municipal buildings.

Face coverings at restaurants and bars can only be removed by customers seated at tables or the bar. Anyone standing or ordering at a bar must be masked, and patrons must also be masked at indoor dance floors.

There were 23 new positive tests reported on the island Wednesday.

"When we received our BioBot Sewer Report, which is a predictive metric that tells us where we are as far as virus concentration on the island, it showed that we should be expecting about 40 cases per day over the course of the next seven days," said Roberto Santamaria, Head of Nantucket's Department of Health.

The mask order does not apply to performers who keep at least six feet away from an audience.

Violators can be fined up to $300 for multiple mask violations.

Click here to read the full order.

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