New York state will lift its mask mandate for schools March 2, Governor Hochul announced on Sunday.
“Given the decline in our rates, our hospitalizations, strong vaccination rates and the CDC guidance, we, friends, the day has come,” Democrat Hochul said. “Today we are going to be announcing that we’ll be lifting the statewide mask requirement in schools, and that’ll be effective this Wednesday, March 2.”
“My position is to empower the local governments to make the decisions for their entire county. But I’ve always said that if there are entities within and we’re going to whether it’s a city, a school district and school if they choose to be more restrictive. We will not prohibit that whatsoever,” she said.
“If they wanted to continue them longer, that is certainly their prerogative.”
Our top priority has always been keeping kids in school and making sure our classrooms are safe.
Now, with COVID cases declining by 98% since the Omicron peak and updated @CDCgov guidance in place, we will lift the statewide school mask requirement this coming Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/WQ5NJKbF98
— Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) February 27, 2022
Hochul’s statewide mask mandate will be lifted one day after Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address.
The CDC also updated its masking guidance Friday afternoon – just in time for Biden’s SOTU speech.
70% of Americans will be able to take their masks off indoors, including in schools.
