NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday that she will lift New York's indoor mask mandate for businesses, as the state's COVID-19 numbers reach their lowest level in months.
The governor said she will let the sweeping mandate expire Thursday. The mandate, which has been in effect for two months, compels businesses to ask customers for proof of full vaccination or require them to wear masks at all times.
“It was a strong action to take at the time—we heard a lot about it—but I again stand behind that as our effort to not have to resort to shutting down businesses when this variant ended up spreading like wildfire,” Hochul said.
The governor said cases, hospitalizations, and positivity rates have plummeted since the omicron variant drove them upwards in December and January.
“New Yorkers—this is what we’ve been waiting for, tremendous progress after two long years,” Hochul said from her Manhattan office, adding that the state is “approaching a new phase in this pandemic.”
While the state will lift the requirement, Hochul said cities, counties and businesses can still choose to require masks. And she encouraged everyone who wants to wear a mask to continue to do so.
Additionally, masks will still be required in many places, including health care facilities, mass transit, shelters and schools. Hochul has said she'd like to see vaccination rates for children improve before she does away with the statewide school mask mandate, which has been in place since August.
Hochul said the state would look at the “combined picture” when students return from their midwinter break in late February and early March. She said test kits will be sent home before and after the midwinter break and the state will then assess COVID-19 protocols based on the latest metrics in schools.
“There will not be one number that says ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ It’s going to be an assessment of all these factors that have guided us throughout, guided us to the decision we made today,” Hochul said.
Speaking to the state's progress on the COVID-19 front, the governor said there were 90,000 New Yorkers testing positive each day on average when the mandate was put in place on Dec. 10. That average had dropped by 93% to about 6,000 on Tuesday, she said.
The statewide seven-day positivity rate has also gone from 22.2% on Jan. 2 to 3.67% on Tuesday. And hospitalizations went from 12,000 on Jan. 12 to 4,600 Tuesday—a drop of 63%.
Following the governor's announcement, City Hall officials continued to urge New Yorkers to mask up in indoor settings.
“We are continuing to follow the science and the guidance of public health professionals to keep New Yorkers safe. We encourage all New Yorkers to continue to wear high-quality masks when indoors or in crowded spaces and to get vaccinated and boosted to stop the spread," said Fabien Levy, spokesperson for New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
New York City has vaccine mandates in place, including Key2NYC, which requires proof of vaccination for various public indoor activities.
Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Teachers Federation, also expressed his support for Hochul's measured approach to the school mask mandate.
"We are all excited about the possibility of lifting these restrictions, but Governor Hochul's thoughtful and prudent approach is the right one," Mulgrew said.
Hochul has faced criticism, and even a battle in court, over the business mandate, which she had extended twice. The school mask mandate has also proven to be controversial.
Hochul told educators in a virtual meeting Tuesday that she didn't plan to make an announcement Wednesday on lifting masks in schools, a requirement that is set to expire Feb. 21.
Robert Lowry, the deputy director of the New York State Council of School Superintendents, was on the virtual conference call.
“The governor said she was very optimistic about trends, very encouraged, but would like to see results for a little bit longer to make sure that these trends remain in the positive direction,” Lowry said. “That could also mean waiting to see what happens after students and staff return from the February school break.”
Jay Worona, the deputy executive director for the New York State School Boards Association, said Hochul laid out a path forward.
“So the sense that we got—and you know she didn’t directly tell us what she was going to do—but she did speak about focusing on the February break week and a time period shortly thereafter,” Worona said.
Multiple education groups, under pressure from parents, have asked Hochul and the state health department to indicate when the mask requirement will end, even if it doesn’t happen immediately.
“Their frustration is real, it’s palpable, and it’s understandable,” Worona said.
Hochul spoke to that frustration during her press conference Wednesday, saying that, “We just want to let New Yorkers know this is very much top of mind for us, we understand the interest in this.”
The governor said there’s a “very strong possibility” that the mask mandate for schools will be lifted on Monday, March 7, if the COVID-19 data from the midwinter break shows a positive trend.
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