The state of New York has decided to remove the mask indoors, in line with other states governed by Democrats, given the sharp drop in covid-19 cases in the country and the population’s weariness with coercive measures after almost two years of pandemic.
Starting this Thursday, the fourth most populous state in the country with nearly 20 million inhabitants and almost 9 million of them in New York City, will stop imposing the use of the mask in shops, restaurants and companies, this announced. Wednesday Governor Kathy Hochul.
However, the mask will continue to be mandatory in schools, nursing homes, social centers and prisons. From now on, municipalities and businesses will have the power to demand or not the imposition of masks.
The famous musicals on Broadway, in the heart of Manhattan, have already made it clear that they choose to protect themselves. “We maintain the obligation of the mask and the vaccine in all theaters until April 30,” Charlotte St. Martin, who chairs the Broadway League, told AFP.
The mask will also continue to be mandatory in public transport -trains, subways, buses, airports- governed by federal legislation.
To justify her decision, Governor Hochul argued that health indicators are “down” in the city that was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic in the spring of 2020, and that has left more than 38,000 dead.
“It is a magnificent panorama,” he assured.
“We are not yet finished (with the pandemic), but the trend is very, very well oriented and that is the reason why we are contemplating a new phase from now on,” he promised.
The use of the mask has always been highly respected by New Yorkers highly traumatized by the epidemic: not only is it mandatory indoors, but most people wear it on the street.
In all shops, restaurants and museums, in addition to the mask, the vaccination certificate is required accompanied by an identity document.
The state of New York thus joins others such as California, Oregon, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware or Massachusetts that throughout this week have begun to announce measures to abandon masks indoors.
The use of masks to prevent contagion by covid has become a political symbol in the United States, where the obligation to cover the mouth and nose is considered a violation of individual freedoms by much of the right and the Republican Party.
The latter accused President “Joe Biden and the Democrats on Wednesday of having politicized ‘science’ and of currently lying about their variable geometry views on masks, obligations and confinements.”
A survey of 10,200 participants from the Pew research institute indicates that 60% are “confused” about the changes in the recommendations of the authorities to fight the epidemic.
At the national level, for the moment the requirement of the mask is maintained, although “the day will come when the covid will stop disturbing our daily lives,” the coordinator of the fight against covid-19 of the White House, Jeffrey, assured on Wednesday. Zients.
Coronavirus infections are in free fall in the United States, with just under 250,000 cases a day on average for seven consecutive days, according to health authorities, far from the peak of 800,000 infections reached in mid-January.
However, on February 4, the country exceeded 900,000 deaths from covid-19 in almost two years, according to Johns Hopkins University, and the average number of daily deaths is still above 2,000.
Source: Eluniverso
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