Should Connecticut Mask Up Again? Take The Patch Survey

CONNECTICUT — As of Tuesday, every county in Connecticut has moved into the category of "substantial" threat of COVID-19 spread, according to a new set of metrics provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Is it time once again to break out the masks?

The state Department of Public Health thinks so. That agency is "strongly recommending" that all Connecticut residents over two years of age, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, return to wearing masks when in indoor public spaces. But a recommendation from DPH is not a mandate from the governor, and so far we haven't seen much of a swing back to blue paper face couture in Connecticut store grocery aisles.

The CDC is also calling for universal masking in K-12 schools, as Connecticut superintendents still await guidance from Gov. Ned Lamont on that and other coronavirus mitigation protocols. Lamont's promised parents and schools at least a two-week heads up, and it's still anyone's guess which way he'll roll. The growing number of #UnmaskOurKids signs filling Connecticut lawns versus the escalating hysteria over the delta variant make that one still too close to call.

Vaccination is still the best defense against illness and hospitalization from COVID-19, but children under the age of 12 are ineligible for the jab, and will likely remain so well into the school year. Should the older students get a pass while parents mask up the little ones, or should one mask mandate fit all grades?

The state's coronavirus "red zone" map has begun to bleed again, as more and more communities report COVID-19 infection rates

Last year, school attendance protocols changed week-by-week and town-by-town as the coronavirus ebbed and flowed through the state. Would masking students depending upon their town's infection rate make for a better strategy than a one-protocol-fits-all approach?

With a new school less than month away, and our political leaders and health agencies all pivoting and pirouetting like anxious ballerinas, Patch is asking readers: What do you think?

Should even vaccinated residents wear masks indoors? Should schools continue to require masks at all? Does Connecticut need a new mask mandate? Or is this delta thing overrated and about to blow over, and more masks will do more harm than good?

Take Patch's survey below and let us know how you feel. The survey is meant not to be a scientific poll, but only to give a broad idea of public sentiment.