Governor Kathy Hochul announced earlier today at a COVID briefing that New York State will lift the current mask mandate in place for indoor businesses effective tomorrow, February 10, 2022. This does not apply for individuals in schools, childcare, health care facilities, prisons, homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters and public transit. Counties, local health departments and businesses can maintain a mask mandate should they choose to do so. The Governor plans to reevaluate the masking requirement for schools on March 7th, after closely monitoring the effects of the February break on transmission rates.
Governor Hochul also announced new requirements to protect nursing home residents by requiring visitors to use “high-quality” masks – no cloth masks, and to have a negative COVID test within 24 hours. Commissioner Mary Basset discussed the launching of new online educational resources for those dealing with Long COVID, as well as the State Consortium on Long COVID which will explore solutions for patients and the providers caring for them.
