New York’s governor yesterday lifted the statewide indoor business mask-or-vaccine requirement. Starting today, masks will be optional for businesses and local governments to enforce. Palisades Center in West Nyack has already announced they are dropping the mask policy at the mall, though individual shops in the mall may have different requirements, so you might want to keep a mask handy anyway, wherever you go. In her COVID update yesterday, governor Kathy Hochul said the number of cases has declined since Omicron peaked on January seventh, enough to lift the mask mandate…
No fan of the masks, Orangetown supervisor Teresa Kenny says it’s long overdue, and she hopes the mandates don’t return…
Schools were not included and therefore students and teachers must still wear masks. Hochul said the rules for schools will be re-evaluated early next month. Rockland Assemblyman Mike Lawler says, however, “It makes zero sense” for the mask mandate in schools to remain in effect.
Meanwhile, the number of COVID cases and hospitalizations in Rockland continues to drop, though the death count has risen yet again. We’ve got 1,133 total fatalities due to COVID, that’s up four since last Friday’s report. We’ve got 34 hospitalized with COVID, that’s down four, and the total number of active cases is at 1,470, down about 800.