FILE - In this Nov. 3, 2020 file photograph, N.H. Gov. Chris Sununu wears a protective mask, due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak, at a polling station in Windham, N.H. New Hampshire joined three dozen other states, including the rest of New England, in enacting a statewide mask mandate as the coronavirus pandemic intensifies. Sununu issued an executive order requiring masks to be worn in public spaces, indoors or outside, when social distancing isn't possible, which goes into effect on Thursday Nov. 19, 2020. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Gov. Chris Sununu is extending New Hampshire’s mask mandate, citing the state’s high coronavirus case rates, hospitalizations and fatalities.

The mandate took effect Nov. 20 and was set to expire Friday. It requires anyone over the age of 5 to wear a mask in indoor or outdoor public spaces where they do not consistently maintain a physical distance of at least six feet from people outside their own households.

“Our health care system is still under an immense amount of pressure,” Sununu said in a statement. “To loosen or eliminate the tools we have utilized with success so far is the wrong approach to fighting this pandemic. The light at the end of the tunnel is within sight, but we must remain vigilant and we cannot let up now.”

Sununu had resisted calls for a statewide mandate, even after the rest of the New England states enacted similar measures. His decision to order one has sparked weekly protests near his home.

The renewed mandate expires March 26.

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