PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Owners and operators of businesses and indoor spaces in Maine must now deny entry to people who refuse to wear a mask, the state’s governor announced on Friday.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, issued an executive order to enforce the new rules. She said the order simplifies the mask rules in the state.
Previous rules required people to wear masks indoors, and allowed owners and operators to deny entry to patrons who refused. The stricter standard is needed because of the growth of the virus in Maine, Mills said.
“Anyone who still insists on entering a store or other facility without a mask, or insists on taking it off when they come inside, can and should be removed and charged with criminal trespassing,” she said.
Mills said the executive order also makes clear that a medical exemption is not an excuse to enter a business without a mask. Accommodations such as curb-side pickup can be made for individuals with disabilities, she said.
Law enforcement officers are prepared to enforce the new rules, Mills said.
In other Maine virus news:
THE NUMBERS
The latest average positivity rate in Maine is 3.86%. State health departments are calculating positivity rates differently across the country, but for Maine the AP calculates the rate by dividing new cases by test specimens using data from The COVID Tracking Project.
The 7-day rolling average of the positivity rate in Maine has risen over the past two weeks from 2.89% on Nov. 26 to 3.86% on Dec. 10.
Public health authorities in the state reported on Friday that the state exceeded 15,000 cases of the virus since the start of the pandemic. They also said the state recorded its 250th death.
—
JOBLESS CLAIMS
The coronavirus pandemic is continuing to have a negative impact on the economy in Maine, where new claims for state unemployment benefits are growing.
The Maine Department of Labor reported on Thursday that almost 3,000 initial claims for state unemployment insurance were made in the week that ended Dec. 5. That was an almost 60% increase from the previous week.
The number of new claims also reached their highest volume in five months, the Portland Press Herald reported. The trend in Maine mirrored a trend around the country, as the number of unemployment claims nationwide jumped to levels not seen since September.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, and other officials in the state have pushed the federal government to extend unemployment benefits that could cease soon. Mills has announced that thousands of unemployed workers in Maine will receive a $600 payment from the state.
The growth in unemployment claims in Maine has come at a time when the rate of coronavirus cases in the state is worsening.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.