New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced Sunday that mandatory masks in schools across the state will be lifted on March 2.
In his briefing in Albany, the Democratic governor referred to the COVID-19 prevalence and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance.
He said county and city governments could maintain their respective mandates, and parents could choose to send their children to school wearing masks.
The new regulation, which will begin on Wednesday (2/3), will also apply to children aged two and over in daycare facilities.
In the state of New York there are 2.7 million school children, including 1 million of whom are in New York City.
Earlier this month, Hochul did not extend the mandate of masks at nearly all indoor facilities. But he said the school’s mask regulations still apply. He has promised to review the regulations again in the first week of March.
The broad mask mandate was put in place during the COVID-19 spike due to the Omicron variant in December.
Masks are still mandatory in some places, including when using public transportation. [vm/lt]