If New York Gov. Kathy Hochul imposes a mask mandate and no one follows it, does it really exist?
That, to me, is the big question. As we near two full weeks that the mask mandate has technically been in effect in New York State, I have to say, nothing has changed for me. I still haven’t worn a mask in public.
Scared of omicron? Not me.
Hochul didn’t do herself any favors when she effectively backtracked on the mandate by saying she wouldn’t force counties to comply. According to the New York Post, at least 37 counties are refusing to comply with the mandate. That’s more than half of the state’s counties.
Even after Hochul announced she would be offering money to counties to assist in COVID-fighting efforts and that counties that are actually enforcing her mask mandate would be eligible for even more money, nothing changed. This week, I went to a few more public places for shopping and dining and never wore a mask.
On Thursday, we went out for brunch for my son’s birthday. As we walked in the restaurant, there was a sign on the door indicating that masks “were required,” yet we walked in maskless with no problem. Unlike the last place at which we dined out, this restaurant’s staff were all masked, but they didn’t ask us to mask up either.
For sure, since the mandate was announced, mask-wearing has increased. Initially, it seemed like fewer than one in 10 people were going maskless. But as it’s become clear that enforcement of the mandate is nonexistent, people increasingly realize that they don’t have to wear face masks, and so, they aren’t. Now it’s more like one in five people are going maskless, and a large percentage of those who are wearing masks aren’t even wearing them correctly. Lots of people are keeping their noses uncovered. While this defeats the purpose of wearing a mask at all, it seems like people are wearing their masks incorrectly now more than ever.
Ultimately, it appears that businesses are simply posting signs informing patrons that masks are “required” but are not doing anything more than that. If you come in maskless, they won’t make you wear one — at least, no place I’ve been to yet has told to mask up or leave. Earlier this week, Hochul claimed that she would sic state inspectors on businesses to perform spot checks to ensure compliance, but the state almost immediately backtracked.
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While Hochul’s mask mandate has been a terrible mess, she may not be done imposing new COVID restrictions. She said in an interview with MSNBC that she’s looking to the state legislature to pass a vaccine mandate for schools by the next school year.
“It’s absolutely something we’re looking at very seriously,” she said, even though kids under 18 are largely unaffected by COVID-19, and a recent study from the U.K. found that unvaccinated children are safer from COVID than vaccinated adults of any age.