Governor Kathy Hochul has just announced that New York State’s indoor mask mandate will expire tomorrow, Thursday, February 10. After tomorrow, cities, counties, and businesses may institute mask or vaccine mandates on their own.
Governor Hochul clarified that the mask mandate will continue in state-regulated health care settings, adult care facilities, nursing homes, correctional facilities, schools and childcare centers, domestic violence shelters, buses and bus stations, trains and train stations, subways and subway stations, planes and airports, and homeless shelters.
The mask mandate for schools will remain in effect until at least early March. All K-12 students will be sent home on winter break with test kits to test on their return from winter break. The state will use that data to reevaluate the school mask mandate. The Governor pointed to the low vaccination rate (30%) of children between ages 5-11 as the reason the school mask mandate must remain in effect.
We will continue to share any additional information of importance as it is released. If you have additional questions about this update, please contact a member of our Government Affairs practice group for assistance: