Masks are now required inside all South Portland public buildings as of Monday. The mandate comes after the majority of the South Portland city council supported it on January 18th’s meeting. Mandates have also been passed by Portland, Brunswick, Freeport, and Bath in order to curb the spread of the omicron variant. The statewide mask mandate was dropped at the end of May after widespread vaccination against Covid-19. Since mid-fall Covid-19 cases have been rapidly rising, with the current seven day average daily cases at 1,011. If the seven day average drops below what the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention considers “moderate” transmission for 10 consecutive days, the city manager will suspend the mandate. The city of South Portland is working on supplying free masks to companies to offer to customers.