Cuomo announces New Yorkers CAN ditch their masks after all – just four days after telling everyone to keep them on despite CDC’s guidance
- Starting Wednesday, masks are no longer needed for fully vaccinated people
- People still have to wear them on public transport, in schools and in nursing homes
- It comes after a weekend of confusion sparked by leaders like Cuomo
- On Thursday, the CDC announced that fully vaccinated people no longer had to wear masks indoors or outdoors
- Cuomo and other Democratic governors said they still wouldn’t lift their mask rules
- Now, Cuomo says he will and it’s down to businesses if they want to make people wear them
- Walmart, Target, Costco and Trader Joe’s have all said that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks
- It’s unclear how they will police who is and who isn’t fully vaccinated
New Yorkers can officially ditch their masks, Gov Andrew Cuomo announced on Monday, just four days after telling everyone to keep them on despite the CDC‘s guidance they were no longer needed.
Starting Wednesday – when businesses can open at 100 percent capacity again – it is no longer a state law that masks must be worn in public places, meaning it is now down to businesses to enforce them.
Masks will still be mandatory in schools, public transport, and nursing homes, Cuomo said, per CDC guidelines.
Cuomo was among governors who were hesitant to lift the mandate last week despite the CDC’s advice that fully vaccinated people can resume normal pre-pandemic activities.
There was mass confusion over the announcement.
New Yorkers can officially ditch their masks, Gov Andrew Cuomo announced on Monday, just four days after telling everyone to keep them on despite the CDC’s guidance they were no longer needed
First, President Biden announced it with excitement. He was then pictured over the weekend wearing a mask.
First Lady Jill Biden, who had jubilantly gone maskless on Thursday, wore one again on Friday.
Ordinary Americans were baffled by the mixed messages.
Businesses like Target are taking it into their own hands. They announced on Monday that vaccinated people no longer needed to wear masks inside stores.
Walmart, Costco and Trader Joe’s have also said that vaccinated people don’t need to wear masks.
How each store is going to check who is and who isn’t fully vaccinated is unclear. It’s not even clear if they will check at all.
Governors in 12 states, California, Delaware Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia, said they were reviewing the guidance and, in the meantime, will keep their face covering mandates in place last week.
It’s unclear if they’ll all drop their mandates now that Cuomo has.
New York’s rules have been among the strictest in the country since the start of the pandemic.
Cuomo is also the head of Chairman of the National Governor’s Association.
The issue of masks has been a complicated one across America since the pandemic began.
There has never been a federal mask mandate.
The only ‘federal’ agency advising on the pandemic is the CDC and it cannot enforce laws or rules, only make recommendations.
It has therefore been down to the states to make their own mask rules, along with all of their lockdown rules.
Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia, dropped their mask mask-wearing orders last week.
Many states never bothered to impose mask mandates in the first place, so they didn’t have to lift them last week.
It’s unclear now what the remaining states will do.
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