Bedford’s Indoor Mask Mandate Begins Today ~ Friday, August 27

The Bedford Board of Health voted on August 23 to require face masks in all public indoor places and private spaces open to the public, effective at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, August 27.

In response to the highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19 leading to an increase in cases locally and across the country, the face mask order is similar to orders adopted by several area cities and towns and is intended to protect the health and safety of Bedford community members, as well as to keep private and public institutions in operation.

The order will be in effect as long as the CDC deems Middlesex County transmission rates to be “substantial” or greater (it is currently “high”).

The order applies to all individuals aged two years and above (except where an individual is unable to wear a face-covering due to a medical condition or disability)

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The mandate includes

  • Foodservice establishment customers may only remove face coverings when seated.
  • Indoor performance venue customers may only remove face coverings in the actual act of
    eating and drinking if permitted in the venue. Indoor performers are required to wear face
    coverings.
  • Lodging guests and workers are required to wear face coverings when inside hallways and
    common areas.
  • Fitness Center/Health Club workers, customers, and visitors are required to wear face
    coverings during fitness activity, including strenuous 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, the customer may temporarily remove the face
    covering but must immediately put the face-covering back on for the remainder of the visit.
  • Masks remain mandatory for all individuals on public and private transportation systems
    (including rideshares, livery, taxi, ferries, MBTA, Commuter Rail, and transportation
    stations), in healthcare facilities and in other settings hosting vulnerable populations, such
    as congregate care settings, as directed by the Governor and the Massachusetts Department
    of Public Health.
  • Residents and employees in multi-unit homes and apartments are required to wear face
    coverings when inside common hallways and spaces.
  • Members and employees in private membership clubs are required to wear face coverings
    while indoors.
  • All entry doors of businesses open to the public must be posted – advising customers that
    face masks must be worn inside the establishment. If a customer refuses to wear a mask or
    face covering for non-medical reasons, a business may decline entry to the individual.
  • All Bedford schools, public and private, are required to follow the American Academy of
    Pediatrics guidance to require face coverings while indoors.

This mandate does not apply to outdoor spaces.

Please visit https://www.bedfordma.gov/health-department/pages/mask-mandate-effective-august-27-2021 to view the full text of the order and see additional relevant links

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Mike Rowell
October 5, 2021 3:30 pm

I’m wondering what the exit criteria is here for this “mandate”? I’ve seen nothing on how we ever escape this order and return to sanity? I’d like to be able to feel comfortable once again going into an establishment in my own home town, which I’ve not done since this absurd mandate was enacted. Were the real estate market in Southern NH not so incredibly hot right now, I’d be long gone, for good.

Don McInnis
August 28, 2021 2:52 pm

The 7 day average for deaths in the entire state of Massachusetts was 5 deaths a day due to COVID. Far fewer per day than deaths due cancer, or cardiovascular issues, or accidents, or lung disease. The Bedford board of health should take this window of “mass hysteria” opportunity to temporarily ban bacon, driving cars, smoking, and restrict pollen emissions.

David W Aldorisio
August 27, 2021 6:35 am

Pure insanity there is no science to this decision and thank god there was one intelligent person on the board. The doctor was correct in saying the vote was mainly hysteria and not rooted in logic! I am convinced that instead of following logic the board wanted to fall in line with the other liberal towns like Lexington and Lincoln !!!!

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