After 30 Warnings, City Readies $100 Fines For Mask Defiance

I know it's bad but I honestly don't care anymore. I'm not anti mask but I'm not going to wear it a majority of the time. I followed the rules for a year and a half and still had covid and got the vaccine. This virus isn't going anywhere for awhile, if ever. If you want to stay stafe then stay at home in isolation or do activities in nature with noone around. I'm gonna keep living normally. If anything happens then so be it.

This is a lot of smoke and mirrors in my opinion. If the Mayor is acting under the powers given to him by the Governor's powers under 19-13-131 then under previously released addendums the health department can fine a person $100 for not wearing a mask in an establishment that they regulate or license, The police would enforce all other entities such as private businesses. I don't know why the building dept. and fire marshal are involved. The next thing is the health department doesn't have summons to hand out, and lack the ability to issue a ticket, someone should ask to see the ticket or ask how many fines have they handed out. Under the public health emergency the fine is actually $1,000 or imprisoned for not more than a year.

Let me get this correct - the city's infection rate is half that of the state. Our hospital is not in any danger, in fact, no hospital is in danger of being overrun by covid patients. But nonetheless, the city will spend time and money running around doing face checks.

More people will die this month from overdoses than covid in this city. Think about that. More people are dying from being shot in this city. There are thousands of people in specific neighborhoods who have not been vaxxed. Is it unreasonable that Bond and her posse, including the mayor, could spend this much effort and more attacking the lack of vaccinations - and even more importantly, attacking the violence and overdose crisis?

Another go at ruining businesses…..

instead of BULLYING people you should get your house in order , public works dept has no air conditioning ,no air circulation and in the morning all we all sit in a room waiting for our work orders . this week alone 5 people have tested positive for covid !!! MR MAYOR ,DIRECTOR BOND IS THIS OK ???

Ham-handed and cowardly plan to require businesses to enforce what go'mnt can not accomplish due to go'mnt lack of consistent hazard communication.

This is unscientific, unless HVN distributes free N95 (KN95) respirators to all citizens, including children, performs proper fit testing on all HVN citizens so that proper seal is maintained, and educates/trains these same people in methods to properly & safely, don & doff the respirators.

This 'enforcement' further dilutes citizenry incentive to be vaccinated initially; and sets up a barrier for any future 'booster' vaccination programs.

'Covid' (SARS-cov-2) messaging by Fedz, King Ned, and HVN (following its perceived leaders?) has been inconsistent and confusing; much of which muddied the waters with political rhetoric ( "...I won't take Trumps vaccine...' (or words to that effect) by then VP candidate Harris), from both sides.

Spent 50 yrs employed in science, 40 in pharmaceutical mfg, so for me the development of a vaccine in +/- 9 months is an significant achievement and should be celebrated by all Americans, regardless of political affiliation, as we have the Salk polio vaccine; and vaccines that control small pox, measles, etc.

USA go'mnts, across the board, have mishandled the implementation of this gift, and as a group, should be ashamed.

ITS ALL ABOUT THE MONEY !!!!! ALL THE FINES YOU ARE COLLECTING HOW ABOUT FIXING THIS RUNDOWN MESS OF A BUILDING

Noteworthy, the city of New Haven observed international Overdose Awareness Day on the Green yesterday with resources including fentanyl test strips, recovery resources, and Narcan. And Cornell Scott Hill was there to do Covid testing and I think vaccinations as well as Griffin Health's regular vaccine clinic there. So opioid awareness and Covid awareness were in one central location yesterday.

"We are in high risk transmission," Bond said about New Haven's current Covid spike. If Covid is so bad in New Haven why is the city allowing the Faxon Law New Haven Road Race on Labor Day which is capped at 4,500 runners? New Haven is sending mixed messages. If Covid was that bad New Haven would stop putting the city at risk and cancel all large events both indoors and outdoors.

It's important to wear your mask properly around people not from your household to HELP prevent the transmission of the virus to others. It's not 100 percent, but it helps. The more we transmit the virus from person to person, the more chances the virus has to mutate to a variant that is immune to the vaccines, is deadlier, is more contagious, or has other negative qualities. The more we transmit the virus to other people by not following the masking, social distancing, hand sterilizing, and proper ventilation, the more we risk prolonging or escalating this virus through new variants, and killing or debilitating other people. The vaccines were developed for the Alpha variant, where they were very helpful, but not perfect, in protecting people from death or hospitalizations, they are still helpful, but a little less so with the Delta variant. Also the people who got their vaccines more than 7 months ago have waning antibodies and are becoming even less protected by the vaccines as time goes on. There are other variants of concern, of interest, or not yet emerged that may be even worse than the current variants we have circulating here. The vaccines HELP prevent serious illness, hospitalizations, and death in most people, but not all people. The BEST weapon we have is our own behavior. If we do everything in our power to help prevent transmitting the virus to others, and to protect ourselves and our loved ones, the more likely we are to stop transmitting this virus and making things worse. If we continue to behave badly and selfishly, and ignoring the latest scientific research on the virus prevention and vaccines, we will prolong and perpetuate the pandemic, and risk a future variant that is far worse than our current ones. Our human behavior is directly responsible for the mutation and transmission of the Delta and other variants. If we had all strictly followed the science advice on prevention we could have stopped this virus from spreading and mutating.

You don't fine people for violating City Ordinances because they are UNENFORCEABLE.

Go ahead give a ticket.
I'll be the first one to yell foul and claim bias based on all the blatant violations that have been overlooked in recent years.

The Courts can sort it out.

Pictures, emails, I got it all.
Years worth blind eyes and favoritism.

I envision many early retirements if this happens.


TRY ME !!!!

I support the mask mandate 100%. It is a simple thing to do. If it stops even one infection it is worth it. Apparently, masking also prevents the more common variety of colds and flu. I do think that basic hygiene should be taught in school at every grade level. It seems that over the past 20 years or so, it became "normal" that as soon as kids went back to school, they caught a cold after cold after cold - with stuffy and sniffly noses almost the whole school year. I for one have not gotten a single cold or flu since the pandemic kicked in Friday the 13th March 2020. It used to be that every time I visited my grandkids I got sick. People need to stop being so entitled, fragile and ignorant. Be grateful that a simple, non-intrusive mask can go a long way in lessening transmission of all manner of airborne illness. Just wear the darn mask and quit griping about it.

Old Haven, Heather C. & others.

If you, Ms Bond et al, have peer reviewed data that demonstrates that cloth mask prevent "Covid' transmission between close cohorts, over time, please publish he citation so that we may all read that paper (s).

I have & use N95 respirators. I know how to use it properly & train others. I use a cloth 'mask' over it to prevent breathing larger aerosols (bacterial, 'seasonal influenza' etc.).

Along with the 'mask' proof, I'd also like to learn the status of the CDC study on why ~80% of Americans either did not 'get' the 'Covid' virus; or were asymptomatic.

Finally, on both Ned's & Justin's diktats on vaccination, why no accommodation to those who have significant SARS-CoV-2 antibody titres following symptomatic episodes?

Why not just have everyone carry a warm kitten (or two) to prevent exposure? Doesn't work, but it might make you feel better, and if everyone else is doing it, well....

Tommy of Branford. While cloth masks do not completely prevent the spread of the virus, they obviously help. Both and preventing one from spreading it and the recipient from getting it. Not only is that common sense, but a simple Google search will pull up many studies, such as the mayo clinic and MIT medical which verify this.To say they are useless is to be void of common sense.

mcg2000 - The overdose epidemic is far greater than one day, one event at the town green. Neither the mayor's office or Bond has been out there on this because they spend all their time salivating over draconian enforcement of their arbitrary covid rules.

By the way - why is Turcio involved in this? He doesn't have enough buildings to inspect?

roger roy: I'd like to learn more about the situation you described at DPW. Please email me at

[email protected]

westville man- thank you for your response to
TommyBrnfrd- and others who question the scientists and ask commenters to provide the proof and research to whom I say-
I shouldn't have to look up the multiple studies on masks helping to prevent virus particle transmission by respected scientists that are peer reviewed for you, you can do that yourself. Not only are they posted online under .edu and .gov websites, long time established respected news media outlets with good reputations for posting the facts have been posting such studies since the beginning of the pandemic. Also on the WHO (World Health Organization) the CDC (Center For Disease Control) the NIH (National Institutes of Health) there is tons of research and info posted about the virus, the variants they're following, the prevention measures, the vaccines, and lots of the most recent research being done on covid. Educate yourself from respected scientific and educational institutions and don't rely on social media or blogs or your cousin's neighbor's pastor's friend, etc. they are not a trusted source for medical or scientific research and data. The very fact that we had almost no cases of flu during the pandemic compared to previous years due to so many people wearing masks should be incentive enough to wear them. Respiratory doctors and pediatricians will tell you the incidents of the flu, colds, earaches, strep throat, gastrointestinal illnesses, asthma attacks, COPD attacks, and other illnesses transmitted by viral and bacterial droplets were greatly reduced due to so many people wearing masks and washing and sterilizing their hands and social distancing.

And exactly who will decide which restaurants, or which bars will be visited by the inspectors? And who has given legal powers to issue a summons, or citation, to individuals who are not legally certified to do so? WHO DECIDES WHO WILL BE PERSECUTED? The Head of LCI? The Mayor? Jim Turcio?

Also a technical question: how is having your mask off sitting in a restaurant, at your table, and only having to re-mask if you get up to move about the restaurant ( exiting or entering, visits to the bathrooms), different than sitting in a bar, at a table? Or what if you are sitting at a bar, at a restaurant? The rules are confusing, if not illegal, and threatening businesses trying to recover from the economics of last year is disgusting. This is like when the Mayor took someone's advice to ticket people crossing the street at church and chapel. People who use buses to get between their two or three unpaying jobs, running late, running to make their bus connections, were issued tickets for $125. NOTE: not one ticket issued to any bicyclists violating traffic laws. Why? The Mayor rides his bicycle to work every day, and a group , a very small group of Yale bicyclists have influenced a warp in the real perception of the needs of a few over the needs of the majority. Just one example under this administration, that is not blatantly stealing tax dollars, but wasting far more than past administrations, in legal fees, to pay for attorneys to carry forward defense of these illegal orders and actions. The worst part is the mask "rules" are not specifically posted anywhere! So the public is not sure what standard applies whenever they go into any building, where food and drink is served. The most important reason for any mandate for covid now, is the hope it will change the numbers, the failure of this administration, to connect with the residents. Oh well, someone's reputation and hopes for higher office will have to suffer.