Governor Kathy Hochul
The mask mandate in New York schools will end March 2.
Governor Kathy Hochul announced the decision Sunday, saying she based on current COVID-19 data trends and after consulting with health and education experts, as well as parents, teachers and school administrators.
The announcement also follows recent changes in metrics used by the Centers for Disease Control to determine risk and transmission levels in communities.
Hochul said the CDC’s new risk assessment is by county, “..based on indications that they look at, infection rates as well as admissions, they’ve come up with a calculation of what constitutes a low, medium, or high community level. And 70% of the population right now lives in an area that’s considered low to medium risk. And that’s very positive. And in low to medium, their recommendation is that there’s no longer a requirement that masks be worn indoors, and that includes schools in low and medium risk areas.”
The CDC has Chautauqua County’s COVID-19 community level at “medium.” Cattaraugus and Allegany Counties are considered “low” with Erie County considered “medium.”
Hochul said counties and schools will have the leeway to determine whether to keep masks mandates in place.
Hochul said among large states, New York has the highest rate of adults fully vaccinated for COVID-19, the highest rate of teenagers fully vaccinated, and the second-highest rate of children ages 5-11 fully vaccinated. She said New York State has experienced a 98 percent decline in COVID-19 cases since the Omicron peak, and a continuous downward trend in cases for 51 consecutive days.
Ahead of Midwinter break, 4.8 million tests were sent to schools for children to take home. Hochul said an additional 4.8 million tests will be sent this week for students to take home upon their return to school. In total, 20.8 million tests have been distributed to schools.
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