Over fears of a cold weather surge in COVID-19 infections, on Dec.10 New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that masks will be mandatory in all indoor public places in the state unless businesses or venues implement a vaccine mandate. The mandate will stay in place until Jan. 15 at which time it will be reevaluated.
Hochul cited a rising number of cases and hospitalizations as justification for reinstating the mask mandate. In April 2020, early in the pandemic, New York state enacted a mask mandate that ended in June 2021 for vaccinated individuals only.
During a recent public appearance in New York City, Hochul said, “We’re entering a time of uncertainty and we could either plateau here or our cases could get out of control,” the Associated Press (AP) reported.
New York state joins a slew of other states that have implemented similar countermeasures in an attempt to stave off infections and hospitalizations due to COVID-19 including Washington, Oregon, Illinois, New Mexico, Nevada and Hawaii.
Violators of the mask mandate could face both civil and criminal penalties, including a fine of up to $1,000.00. Local health departments will be responsible for enforcing the mandate.
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While some cheered the announcement others called the mask mandate an overreach stating the measure places additional burdens on businesses already struggling with the fall-out of the pandemic and that the mandate will not be enforced.
Republican Ed Day, Rockland County Executive, told AP via a prepared release, “I told the governor’s staff that we cannot and will not enforce this requirement as it currently stands.”
Niagara County Legislature Chair Becky Wydysh, Republican, said in a statement that the county will take an “educate to cooperate approach” when enforcing the mandate indicating a relaxed approach to enforcement.
Last week the state recorded more than 68,000 positive tests for the virus over a seven day period prompting Hochul to conclude that “we are heading upward in a direction that I no longer find sustainable.”
In New York, close to 3,500 people are currently hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 infections, a number that is nearly double the cases identified on Nov. 7 when 1,794 people were in hospital with the disease.
Over the course of the pandemic, 2,835,295 cases have been identified in New York state resulting in 58,017 deaths.
