New York State is lifting the requirement to wear masks indoors starting Thursday, including in shops, restaurants and businesses, Democratic state Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Wednesday, as the number of COVID-19 infections is plummeting in the United States.
This obligation to wear a mask – which in fact expires Thursday according to New York State legislation – will however remain in place in schools until March and it will return to municipalities, including the City of New York, and businesses to impose it or not on their constituents and customers, indicated Mme Hochul during a presentation to the press.
Even though the state and the megacity of New York were the epicenter of the pandemic in 2020, with at least 38,000 deaths in two years in the city alone, Mme Hochul welcomed health indicators all “down”.
“It’s a beautiful painting. […] We are not finished, but the trend is very, very well oriented and this is the reason why we are now considering a new phase of the pandemic, ”launched the Democratic governor. New York State is therefore also dropping the mask indoors, following other states led by the Democratic Party which have announced identical measures since Monday, such as California, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Wearing a mask is a very strong political marker in the United States, where the obligation to cover the face is considered an infringement of individual freedoms by a large part of the right and the Republican Party. The latter is also well placed to outdo President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party during legislative elections in November which will renew part of Congress in Washington.
Mask-wearing has never been enforced in large states run by Republican governors, such as Florida or Texas.
Daily contaminations in the United States are in freefall, with just under 250,000 cases per day on average over seven rolling days, according to health authorities. Far from the peak of 800,000 cases reached in mid-January. However, on February 4, the country passed the mark of 900,000 deaths from COVID-19 in nearly two years, according to Johns-Hopkins University. The threshold of 800,000 deaths had been passed in mid-December.