Public Health

The governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, imposes a mask mandate on the concerns of Omicron Covid

New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Friday a nationwide mask mandate for all indoor public spaces, unless the companies or venues are already vaccinated.

The new mandate will come into force on Monday through January 15, 2022. At that point, the state will re-evaluate its effectiveness based on Covid-related public health conditions.

Non-compliant businesses can face both civil and criminal prosecution, with a maximum fine of $ 1,000 per violation. The local health authorities will enforce the mandate.

It is the governor’s latest move to tackle the spread of the highly mutated Omicron-Covid variant, which was confirmed in at least 20 cases across the state as of Thursday. The measure also serves as “additional mitigation” during the holiday season, when family and friends spend more time indoors.

“The temporary measures I am taking today will help achieve this during the holiday season,” Hochul said in a statement. “We shouldn’t have reached the point where we’re facing a spurt of winter, especially with the vaccine we have available, and I share the frustration of many New Yorkers that we haven’t got through this pandemic.”

The decision was based on the state’s weekly seven-day case rate and rising hospital admissions. Since Thanksgiving, that average is up 43% and hospital admissions are up 29%.

Hochul added that state vaccination rates have increased 2% since Thanksgiving weekend, bringing the total to more than 80% of New Yorkers fully vaccinated.

On Thursday, the governor also said that nearly 500,000 booster doses were distributed across the state over the past week, up 50% from the previous week.

However, she noted that “the surge is not fast enough to contain the spread of the virus completely, especially in communities with low vaccination coverage”.

“I warned for weeks that additional steps might be necessary, and now we are at this point based on three metrics: increasing cases, reduced hospital capacities and inadequate vaccination rates in certain areas,” said Hochul in the statement, adding the mask mandate ” will no longer be necessary “if others follow suit” and get vaccinated.

New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett said vaccinations and masks were needed to slow the spread of the Omicron variant.

“Community diffusion requires a community-focused solution as the Omicron variant emerges and the overwhelmingly dominant Delta variant continues to circulate,” said Bassett. “We have the tools we need to protect against the virus and now we need to make sure we are using them.”

Despite growing concerns about Omicron, Bassett emphasized that the Delta variant remains the primary driving force behind high caseloads and hospital admissions across the state and across the United States

Delta still makes up more than 99% of all genetically sequenced positive samples in the US, said CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walenksy during a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.

New York joins several other states with mask mandates, including New Mexico, Nevada, and Hawaii.

Additionally, a number of local governments that have detected Omicron have been strengthening their Covid protocols in the past few weeks.

For example, New York City has issued a recommendation strongly recommending that everyone, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks indoors at all times in public places.

Related Articles