New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he will be signing an executive order intended to increase the use of masks in the state, including within the confines of private businesses.
During his Thursday news conference, Cuomo said that while mask-wearing is already compulsory in public areas, the order would allow business owners to extend that requirement to their stores.
“When we’re talking about reopening stores and places of business, we’re giving the store owners the right to say, ‘If you’re not wearing a mask, you can’t come in,’” the governor said. “You don’t want to wear a mask? Fine, but you don’t have a right to then go into that store if that store owner doesn’t want you to.”
Cuomo also pointed out that masks have proven to be effective in preventing further spread of the coronavirus. He added, “We have to culturalize the masks. We have to customize the masks for New York to get New Yorkers to wear them.”
New York has had the lion’s share of COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began. As of Thursday, the state has had about 370,000 infections and almost 30,000 of the nation’s more than 100,000 deaths.
