New York City to lift school mask mandate, vaccine requirements [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that mask mandates in schools and vaccine requirements for indoor dining and entertainment will end starting on March 7.
• New York Gov. Kathy Hochul allowed the statewide mask policy to expire after Covid-19 cases dropped.
• Venues and businesses that choose to require proof of vaccination from their customers may continue to do so, the mayor’s office confirmed.

New York City will lift mask mandates in schools and vaccine requirements for indoor dining and entertainment on March 7, as long as there is no spike in Covid-19 cases before then, Mayor Eric Adams announced Sunday.

Adams set the target date after Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the lifting of a statewide mask mandate for schools, leaving it up to local districts to decide whether to keep their face covering rules.

If there are no unforeseen changes in virus data, the mayor said school mask requirements and a mandate to show proof of vaccination for indoor dining, entertainment and fitness would all end a week from Monday.

“More than a million New York City school children will return to class tomorrow after a week off. At the end of this week, we will evaluate the numbers and make a final announcement on Friday. If we see no unforeseen spikes and our numbers continue to show a low level of risk, New York City will remove the indoor mask mandate for public school children, effective next Monday, March 7,” Adams said in a statement.

The vaccine requirement, which has been in place since the summer, is expected to come to an end on the same day.

“New York City’s numbers continue to go down day after day, so, as long as Covid indicators show a low level of risk and we see no surprises this week, on Monday, March 7 we will also lift Key2NYC requirements,” Adams said. “This will give business owners the time to adapt and will allow us to ensure we are making the best public health decisions for the people of New York.”

Currently, customers at indoor restaurants, concerts, theater, museums and gyms are required to show proof of full vaccination.

After a massive surge driven by the Omicron variant, the number of new infections in the city has dropped sharply from over 43,000 to an average of 619 new daily cases in the latest data.

Other vaccine requirements — including a mandate for private employees and city workers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus — will remain, according to the mayor.

Venues and businesses that choose to require proof of vaccination from their customers may continue to do so, the mayor’s office confirmed.

Source: Politico