Starting on Monday, Dec. 13, all indoor public facilities in New York that do not implement vaccine-proof checks would be required to enforce a mask mandate. Governor Kathy Hochul described the measure as a “significant move” to confront the state’s worst COVID-19 case increase in more than a year.
Hochul said the decision was made in response to growing concerns about the state’s weekly seven-day case rate and escalating hospitalizations. Fines of up to $1,000 per infraction are imposed for noncompliance. On Jan. 15, the order will be reviewed again.
The statewide seven-day average case rate in New York has jumped by 43% since Thanksgiving, while hospitalizations have surged by 29%. Vaccinations have increased by 2% throughout that time period, but not enough to keep up with the spread.
COVID-19 hospitalizations statewide are at their highest level since late April, with an increase of 86% in the previous month alone, according to the most recent statistics. Hochul and health experts have blamed the delta variant of the coronavirus, which accounts for 99% of all genetically sequenced positive samples across the country.
Hochul’s declaration comes a day after she said that nearly three dozen upstate hospitals had to halt non-essential elective surgeries in order to guarantee bed capacity as part of a “preemptive strike” to combat the surge.
New York City’s mayor said earlier this week that the city would implement the nation’s strongest vaccination mandate on Dec. 27, while new vaccine requirements for children under the age of 12 will take effect on Tuesday.
Starting Monday, officials in Oneida County, where two omicron cases have been identified, will require masks to be worn in indoor public spaces and temperature checks to be undertaken at social events outside of private dwellings. If proof of vaccination is necessary for admittance, there will be an opt-out option.
According to CDC data, more than 81% of New York’s adult population is completely vaccinated. Only 65% of children aged 12 to 17 are completely vaccinated, while only 6% of children aged 5 to 11 who become eligible in the past six weeks are fully vaccinated.
