The Town Council voted unanimously on Wednesday to revoke the town’s mask mandate. Emergency Ordinance III of the Town of New Shoreham Adopted June 24, 2020 called for masks to be worn in public places both indoors and outdoors. With the new guidelines issued by the CDC and the state of Rhode Island in recent days, Town Manager Maryanne Crawford told the councilors she didn’t believe they could keep the ordinance in effect any longer.The CDC has advised that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks except as required by federal, state, local,tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance. Masks are still required on planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation by federal mandate, including the Block Island Ferry and Block Island Airport, both in the terminal and on the aircraft. Rhode Island advises that masks are only needed in businesses that require it, schools and child care settings, healthcare settings like hospitals, doctors’ offices, home healthcare, and nursing homes, public transportation, locations serving the homeless, prisons and correctional facilities.Given these changes to federal and state guidelines, the Town Council revoked its mask ordinance, leaving in place the
