Hoboken will begin enforcing an indoor mask mandate again Wednesday in all public buildings due to the rise of coronavirus cases. 

“It’s been like this for so long and all of a sudden it’s happening, so I don’t know if it’s going to make a difference, but I obviously will follow the rules,” says Victoria Umbach, of Hoboken.

Everyone over the age of two will be required to wear a mask or face-covering while inside any public building or commercial establishment, except when actively eating or drinking.  

“I don’t think it’s that big of an impediment to ask people to wear masks,” says Jenna Heffernan, of Hoboken.

The Hoboken Health Department agrees, after reporting a record high 611 residents testing positive in the last seven days. Eight are hospitalized at Hoboken University Medical Center. Mayor Ravi Bhalla, who also tested positive, says he wants to use every tool possible to stop the spread.  

The order will be lifted once the positivity rate is reduced to a more manageable weekly average. Mayor Bhalla says lifting the mandate would take the positivity rate for the state to reach 5% for a one-week average or when the daily positive cases in Hoboken fall below the weekly average as compared to the first week of November 2021 prior the surge of the Omicron variant, whichever is first.