AUBURN — The City Council will consider an order Monday requiring officials to wear face coverings during all meetings.

The request comes as COVID-19 cases continue to rise statewide — including 68 new cases in Androscoggin County on Friday — and as Auburn officials have so far not defined a consistent approach to masking and social distancing during council meetings.

The county’s school districts were also given a “yellow” designation Friday by the Maine Department of Education, indicating “an increased level of community risk.”

Since the council returned to in-person meetings this spring, when many municipalities continued to conduct public meetings via Zoom, only three councilors and a few staff members have routinely worn face coverings.

In a statement issued shortly before the Nov. 9 meeting, Mayor Jason Levesque said he would not always wear a mask during City Council meetings in order to make the deliberation more clear for online viewers, but said this decision had no bearing on other councilors.

The statement was issued in response to Gov. Janet Mills’ order strengthening rules on wearing face coverings in public, and following the order, all city staff and other councilors began wearing them.

However, two councilors have continued to not wear them.

According to a council memo, Councilors Katie Boss and Holly Lasagna requested the order be placed on the City Council agenda.

Lasagna attempted to suspend the rules Monday in order to hold a discussion on face coverings, but the motion failed 4-3.

In his statement, Levesque said all meetings will continue to be held inside the Council Chamber, with public participation available via the web and in an adjacent room at Auburn Hall. He said he would wear a mask when not “actively presiding over meetings.”

The council memo includes a document from Dr. Peter Elias of Auburn on the importance of city officials masking when interacting.

Elias said state policy requires that people wear masks when interacting indoors with individuals not in their household.

“The deciding factor for requiring a mask is that one is indoors with a group of people not in one’s household,” he said. “The virus does not differentiate between members of the public (defined by Merriam-Webster as ‘the people as a whole’) and elected, appointed, or hired public officials.”

Elias also said Maine is in “a new phase of the pandemic.”

“We no longer have stable numbers with isolated and controlled spread,” he said. “All of our metrics are increasing at a very concerning rate.”

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