I remember thinking I ought to get vaccinated to ensure I’d have the freedom to live life normally and not have to wear a stupid mask everywhere I went.
Unfortunately, I live in New York state, and just because Andrew Cuomo is gone doesn’t mean that things are any better.
On Friday, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that masks would be required in all indoor public places that don’t have a vaccine requirement.
Hochul cited the rising number of cases and hospitalizations in her decision.
“As Governor, my two top priorities are to protect the health of New Yorkers and to protect the health of our economy. The temporary measures I am taking today will help accomplish this through the holiday season. We shouldn’t have reached the point where we are confronted with a winter surge, especially with the vaccine at our disposal, and I share many New Yorkers’ frustration that we are not past this pandemic yet,” Hochul said in a statement. “I want to thank the more than 80 percent of New Yorkers who have done the right thing to get fully vaccinated. If others will follow suit, these measures will no longer be necessary.”
“I have warned for weeks that additional steps could be necessary, and now we are at that point based upon three metrics: Increasing cases, reduced hospital capacity, and insufficient vaccination rates in certain areas,” Hochul added.
The mandate goes into effect Monday, December 13. It will remain in place until January 15, 2022, when New York state will “re-evaluate based on current conditions.”
Republican officials in the state say this mandate is an unnecessary burden on businesses.
“While I understand the Governor’s concern about the rising number of COVID cases, a new mask mandate isn’t the solution. As we’ve seen countless times over the past two years, government overreach provokes many people to instinctively resist and creates more polarization around an issue that should simply be about public health,” State Senator George Borrello said in a statement. “As before, this mandate will end up being a burden to businesses who will have to police mask-wearing in their establishments, creating the potentially volatile conflicts between patrons and workers that became fodder for news reports and internet videos over the past two years.”
“As a restaurant owner, I am concerned for all the front line staff who will be faced with the challenge of enforcing this mandate,” Borrello added. “Just as it is in our businesses, it is typically the newest and least experienced workers who are the first point of contact with customers. Expecting them to enforce this mandate is unrealistic and unfair.”
“This newest mask mandate is government overreach at its worst,” said Republican Assemblyman Mike Lawler. “Across New York state, we are getting shots in arms and our vaccination rate is one of the highest in the nation.”
This is government overreach at its worst.
Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) trashed Hochul’s mandate. “I do not support Kathy Hochul’s decision to impose a statewide mask mandate, I do not support her threats and heavy-handed approach firing essential workers, trying to turn them from heroes to zeroes, and I do not support her order ending elective procedures,” he said in a statement.