Hochul to announce decision on masks in indoor public places this week
While Hochul said she would announce her decision on the mandate for indoor public places Wednesday, she added she isn’t ready to rule on schools. She faces a deadline of Thursday to end or extend the indoor mask mandate for public places, and has a Feb. 21 deadline for schools.
Hochul said it will be easier to lift the school mandate if more parents get their children vaccinated.
“I want to be optimistic, I am optimistic that we are trending in that direction,” she said of ending the school mask mandate, “but I still need the time and I’m assessing.”
She added: “It’s just premature at this time to talk about it.”
Newsday’s Bart Jones reports that some medical experts on Long Island were divided on whether to end the mandate, with some saying it’s time and others warning it could set off another COVID-19 surge.
Meanwhile, there’s an end date for masks in N.J. schools. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s office said Monday that he intends to lift the statewide COVID-19 mask requirement in schools on March 7.
Plus: Newsday’s Scott Eidler reports how Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman has become a high-profile backer of the GOP-driven campaign against COVID-19 mandates.
The number of new positives reported today: 255 in Nassau, 260 in Suffolk, 1,405 in New York City and 3,795 statewide.
Search a map of new cases and vaccination rates, and view more charts showing the latest local trends in testing, hospitalizations, deaths and more.
See more coronavirus headlines below.
Erin Serpico is an assistant web producer who joined Newsday in November 2018. Originally from New Jersey, she now covers community events and produces local content for newsday.com while also helping run the homepage.
