He made his announcement shortly after Gov. Kathy Hochul, who announced her plans to lift the state’s school-masking mandate effective Wednesday, made his announcement shortly after Gov.
Adams stated that Adams would also lift the mask mandate for approximately 1 million schoolchildren in the largest school system in the country.
Adams stated Sunday that a decision will not be made until Friday after a full week after students return to school from their weeklong vacation.
Adams stated that if the trend continues, Adams would consider other measures such as removing proof of vaccination requirements for restaurants, bars, and other indoor public spaces.
“At Friday’s end, we will review the data and make an announcement. He said that if there are no unexpected spikes or our numbers show low risk, New York City will lift the indoor mask mandate in public schools starting next Monday, March 7.
“Additionally, New York City continues to fall day by day. So, as long COVID indicators show low risk, and we don’t see any surprises this week, we will lift Key2NYC requirements on Monday, March 7. This will allow business owners to adjust and will enable us to make the best public health decisions possible for New Yorkers.
Hochul stated, “The time has come.” Hochul stated, “Today we will be announcing that the statewide school mask requirement has been lifted.”
The move of the governor follows new guidance by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It states that most Americans can take a break from wearing their masks, even students at schools.
Hochul stated, “That’s why I feel so confident that now is the time to lift all the mask requirements.”
The CDC guidelines aren’t binding for indoor spaces. This means that cities and institutions, even those in low-risk areas, may establish their own rules. Hochul stated that cities and counties could maintain their own mandates and parents could still send their children to school wearing masks.
New York State is home to 2.7 million students, with approximately 1 million of them in New York City. It also has the largest school system in America.
These new rules are also applicable to children aged 2 and over who attend childcare facilities.
Hochul stated that Adams was consulted prior to her announcement. This included a conversation on Sunday.
Adams made her announcement, but she waited for Adams to do so.
Hochul stated that despite criticisms of the state’s pandemic actions, she was determined to stick with experts and data on health and “not allow criticism or politics to interfere in this decision-making.”
Hochul earlier this month let the broad mask mandate for indoor settings expire, but stated that the schools requirement would still be in effect. Hochul had previously promised to revisit the school question within the first week in March.
The large mask mandate was enforced during the December COVID-19 surge that was fueled by the Omicron variant.
Officials from the state said that the average number of new cases per day was less than 1,671 as of Saturday. This is the lowest level since late July. Other metrics, such as hospitalizations or deaths, have also dropped rapidly.
Some places still require masks, such as public transit, homeless shelters or jails and prisons.
