NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Despite a massive drop in New York’s COVID-19 cases, Gov. Kathy Hochul has refused to end the mask mandate, which is causing controversy in some parts of the state.
Reported COVID-19 cases in New York have dropped from a record 90,000 in early January to just over 7,000 at the beginning of February, representing a dip that Hochul said had been expected.
“We anticipated the surge, the surge came and now is starting to go away,” the governor said.
Hospitalizations are seeing a similar drop, but Hochul noted that experts have not advised removing masks just yet.
“This is not the governor of New York sitting in her office saying, ‘Oh let's pull a number out of the hat and see what sounds good.’ This is in consultation,” Hochul said.
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She added that she has been talking with school and hospital leaders, along with representatives from the state’s business sector to make appropriate decisions regarding masking requirements.
“We're not prepared to throw in the towel and say we’re done fighting covid, we are so far from that,” Hochul said.
The governor said Tuesday that the mask mandate for businesses will continue through Feb. 10 and the mandate for schools will continue through March 2 – a decision that has drawn sharp backlash from some parents on Long Island.
“Personally, my son is devastated. He gets rashes on his face from the mask, he can't hear what his teacher is saying all the time,” one parent told WCBS 880 during an anti-masking rally in Nassau County on Tuesday.
Another parent claimed children are being scared into wearing their masks inside school buildings.
“They’re being told they're breaking federal laws, being told that they're wrong and they have to listen,” one mother said. “These kids are getting bullied.”
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who has been a strong defender of parents’ choice, was in agreement and noted that he feels Hochul is overstepping in mandating masks be worn in all indoor settings.
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“This isn't about politics,” he said. “This is about whether the state can tell parents what's best for their children.”
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said he is also hearing from residents that they are tired of the mask mandate, and he has written a letter to the state Department of Health to ask what is needed to get back to normal.
“The biggest issue, the biggest challenge that our school districts have, that parents have, is a lack of clarity, a lack of understanding,” Bellone said.
“We talk about the importance of following the science. We need to be clear with people what the end is so that they have something that they can look to that can be a guide and that can be a sign of hope for them,” he added.
The state has yet to provide clarification on such metrics.
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