It’s our least favorite fashion accessory and no one is going to win a popularity contest for saying it, but it’s time to get those face masks back into the regular rotation, regardless of one’s vaccine status. That should extend to a new indoor mandate, statewide, to help convince people that they can stem the rising tide of infection and illness.

That recommendation came this week from the state’s leading voice of medical professionals— the Massachusetts Medical Society, which pointed to an “alarming upward trend” in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations in recent weeks.

“Wearing masks while indoors is an effective and appropriate way to slow transmission of the disease, especially with the holiday and cold and flu seasons upon us,” said Dr. Carole Allen, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society. “We must all work together to take steps to confront and stem what could be a continued rise in cases, hospitalizations, serious illness, and death.”

The stats from the state’s Department of Public Health underline the problem: There were 11,078 new cases over the weekend and 1,355 people hospitalized. On Tuesday, the state confirmed 61 new deaths from Covid. The new strain of the virus is one reason for concern, enough for other states with a similar trajectory like New York and California, to reinstate their indoor mandate. (New York ‘s requirement allows exemptions in venues that require proof-of-vaccination for entry.)

But, we also have to weigh our cold-weather climate and the increased volume of people congregating in restaurants, entertainment venues, and other spaces. The Archdiocese of Boston this week renewed its own mandate to have congregants masked while at Mass. Schools locally are weighing new restrictions and even remote learning options for the post-Christmas break.

So far, Gov. Baker has resisted calls for him to reconsider a new mask mandate, pointing to the state’s impressive record to date in getting our population vaccinated. And he’s right about that: According to DPH, more than 5.7 million people in Massachusetts had taken at least one dose of a vaccine — and almost 5 million are “fully” vaxxed— roughly 90 percent of those eligible. That’s well above the national average in all categories.

The governor prefers to let local cities and towns take the lead on setting guidelines for businesses, he said. And he’s made a good call in ordering up free test kits for some 2.1 million residents in hard-hit communities, including our own, to help monitor and stem the growth of the infection rate.

But Massachusetts is one of the leading states in the nation, in part, because we’ve followed the guidance of scientists and epidemiologists who know what to look for and how to best protect our citizens. We may not be thrilled with the prescription— but now is the time to double down and take their advice to heart: Masks offer the most sensible and best protection to interrupt the spread of Covid and other seasonal illnesses.

We’ve all got them— let’s use them, whether or not there’s an edict from Beacon Hill. After all, we don’t wait for an executive order to don gloves, scarves, and boots when there’s a chill in the air and snow underfoot. It’s just the not-dumb thing to do. Let’s add masks back to our winter wardrobe.