The NYPD is rolling out a stricter masking policy amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in the city – now requiring all cops, regardless of their vaccination status, to wear face coverings while on duty, The Post has learned.
The order was sent out in a department-wide email Sunday night spelling out the new measures for masks that had been previously rolled back to focus on the unvaccinated cops on the job.
“All members of the service, regardless of vaccination status, who are able to medically tolerate a face covering, are required to wear a face covering that covers their mouth and nose at all times while they are in a shared indoor workspace, except when eating or drinking,” the bulletin read.
Cops are also forced to don the masks at all times when dealing with the public, while in schools, on public transit and multiple other locations, the memo says.
Similar requirements existed in the department last year – dictated by the state mask mandate.
The mask policy was eventually scaled back.
Sunday’s reinstatement comes as COVID-19 cases have skyrocketed in the Big Apple and across the state, fueled in part by Omicron variant.
“One Police Plaza isn’t going to follow this,” one police source said bluntly, referring to NYPD’s headquarters.
The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new directive.
The city’s coronavirus positivity rate was 7.13 percent on Friday – up from less than 3 percent in early December and the state set a new daily record the same day with 21,908 COVID-19 infections.
