New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Sunday that the state’s school mask mandate will be lifted, two days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released relaxed guidelines for wearing face masks in public spaces.
The mandate won’t be lifted until March 2, but with Hochul’s announcement, the list of states with active school mask mandates continues to shrink. However, the majority of states dropped their mandates before the CDC announced its new guidelines Friday.
Hochul specifically cited the change in the CDC’s masking guidelines that were announced Friday for the lifting of the mandate. Under the new guidelines, masking is only recommended in areas where high community transmission is affecting hospital capacity.
CDC RELAXES COVID-19 MASKING GUIDELINES
“Our top priority has always been keeping kids in school and making sure our classrooms are safe,” Hochul said in a tweet announcing the change. “Now, with COVID cases declining by 98% since the Omicron peak and updated [CDC] guidance in place, we will lift the statewide school mask requirement this coming Wednesday.”
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
The lifting of the statewide school mask mandate does not preclude local school districts from maintaining their own mandates, and parents can send their children to school masked, the governor’s announcement said.
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School mask mandates had become a major flashpoint of controversy between school districts and parents who sought to send their children to school without masks. Democratic-controlled states like New York had implemented statewide mask mandates for schools, but Republican-controlled states like Texas and Florida had declined to mandate masks in schools and in some states even banned school districts from putting in place their own mandates.
