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During a COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday, April 20, Hochul said that people in New York will still be required to wear masks on buses, trains, and airplanes, as well as indoor transit settings, despite the federal ruling.
“We are going to continue for public transit,” Hochul said. “Let's just be smart about it.”
It is unclear how long the state will continue with the mask mandate.
Hochul also made note that in New York, outside of public transportation settings, masks are also still required in certain indoor congregate environments such as hospitals, nursing homes, homeless shelters, assisted living, and correctional facilities.
New York has seen a recent uptick in COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations statewide, including large portions upstate, where sub-variants of the virus have been running rampant and rapidly spreading.
“We believe that in certain settings for now ... If we hadn't seen these two variants, I suspect we would have been able to say goodbye to masks in all settings, but you know, we watch for variants, they come and now we’re starting to see cases and hospitalizations go up,” Hochul said.
“We’re not saying this is the end of the subvariants,” the governor said. “I don’t know if there won't be more coming, so suit up with the armor; that means not one but two boosters.”
According to Hochul, cases of COVID-19 are on the rise with an average of 40 cases per 100,000 people. She says there are around 1,400 people currently hospitalized with the virus across the state.
“We're not panicking,” she said during the briefing. “But we're watching the numbers. We're a long way from that peak, but I don't want to get to that peak.”
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