NEW YORK (WWNY) – The state is mandating people wear masks in indoor public places.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the mandate Friday morning, saying it’s to address a COVID-19 winter surge.
The measure takes effect on December 13. Hochul says it will be reevaluated on January 15. It applies to New Yorkers 2 years and older.
She said masks will be required unless the business or venue requires patrons and staff to be fully vaccinated. The mask requirement also applies to patrons and staff.
She says it brings an added layer of protection as people begin to spend more time indoors for shopping, gathering, and visiting holiday-themed destinations – and to just get out of the cold.
“As governor, my two top priorities are to protect the health of New Yorkers and to protect the health of our economy,” Hochul said in a statement. “The temporary measures I am taking today will help accomplish this through the holiday season.”
Hochul has warned New Yorkers for weeks that restrictions may be necessary if coronavirus cases continued to rise, hospitals reached capacity, or people weren’t get vaccinated quickly enough.
All three of those things have happened, she said.
Since Thanksgiving, the governor said, the statewide seven-day average case rate has increased by 43 percent and hospitalizations have increased by 29 percent.
Even though the number of fully vaccinated New Yorkers has increased by 2 percent since Thanksgiving weekend, she said, it’s not fast enough to offset the gains the virus is making. Hochul said 80 percent of New Yorkers are fully vaccinated.
At a news conference in New York City Friday, the governor said similar measures have worked there and have kept COVID-related hospitalizations lower than most of the rest of the state.
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