New York State has asked a court to reject an attempt by two Long Island school districts to overturn the state’s COVID-19 school mask mandate, arguing that state officials were justified in acting “to protect the public from a disease that has killed more than three million people worldwide.”
A 17-page filing from Assistant Attorney General Michael McCartin late Friday is the state’s formal answer to a lawsuit filed last month by the Massapequa and Locust Valley school districts asserting that a requirement that all students, staff and visitors be masked in schools was “irrational” and “unreasonable” and that Gov. Kathy Hochul and others had exceeded their authority in making the Aug. 27 emergency order.
McMartin wrote that the districts had not shown that the mandate had caused any injury, and that officials had “broad authority” to protect public health.
New York State Department of Health deputy director Johanne Morne said in an accompanying affidavit that state health officials were following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommends universal indoor masking for schools. Arguments that mask-wearing can lead to heightened levels of carbon dioxide or bacterial infections are “specious” and “discredited,” she said.
A spokeswoman for the Eastport-South Manor schools said that district’s board of education had voted to join the suit, but Newsday did not find any legal filings to reflect that.
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