NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – You’re still required to wear a mask in the subway system, but more and more riders are not doing that—so the MTA was handing out masks as a reminder this week.
Mask use compliance is expected to be a topic at Wednesday’s MTA Board meeting.
MTA volunteers were out in force Tuesday, handing out masks at subway stations and Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North stops.
The initiative came a year after the MTA began giving away masks in the transit system.
The MTA’s chief customer officer Sarah Meyer was among those handing out masks Tuesday. She told WABC that mask-wearing is falling off.
“I think, when they're on the platforms, maybe they forget. But when they get on the trains, the vast majority remembers,” Meyer said. “Unfortunately, as we see across the country, there are still those that refuse to wear masks and don't find them to be medically necessary.”
Mask compliance has slipped below 90%, according to a Transit Authority survey.
Mask use has fallen just as the Delta coronavirus variant has driven up cases among the unvaccinated in the city.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday he does not plan to reinstate a citywide mask mandate even as COVID-19 cases increase, opting instead to focus on vaccinating more residents. There are 4.8 million city residents with at least one vaccine dose, the mayor said.
The daily number of COVID-19 cases in the city has increased recently, though the caseloads are nowhere near the pandemic’s peak this past winter. The seven-day average of confirmed and probable cases Friday was 537, compared to 229 on July 1, according to the city’s data.
The number of virus cases has been rising around the country, many of them the highly transmissible delta variant. City health officials say the variant makes up about 7 in 10 cases they sequence.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.