Wearing masks will soon be optional for young children in New York in schools and day care centers, Mayor Eric Adams announced on Thursday, about two weeks before the last scheduled day of school.
The controversial mandate to cover up young people aged 2 to 4 in public schools and other urban areas will be lifted on Monday (June 13th), he said in a press release.
The last school day in the schools of the Department of Education of the city is set for June 27.
“I have always said that science will take us out of the pandemic, and because we have followed data that shows that cases are steadily declining, we have won the last jump of COVID-19,” Adams said in a statement.
The mayor initially announced the impending end of politics two months ago. He said Thursday that the mayor’s office continues to “urge” New Yorkers of all ages to continue wearing masks indoors.
The city will continue to provide masks at DOE schools for those who want to wear them, according to a press release.
Mayor Eric Adams has announced that he is raising the mandate for masks for New York’s children. Robert Miller
“I am with the parents of New York and the people of New York can trust this administration to continue to make the right public health decisions to keep our children safe,” he said.
The abolition of the mask requirement for children under the age of five – who are not yet eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine – comes more than three months after Adams repealed the rule for older students who can get the vaccine.
Parents of younger children have been calling on Hizzoner for months to remove the requirement for masks for their children.
Adams promised in late March that the rules for the youngest students and visitors to day care at the Big Apple would be lifted on April 4 – but withdrew soon after amid an increase in coronavirus cases.
As of Monday, the seven-day overall positive rate of COVID-19 in New York was 7.56%, a drop from a peak of more than 9% in mid-May, but well above the positivity levels below 3% reported in April. department show.
Thursday’s news release did not say whether the mask rule will be reintroduced if cases start to rise again, as was the case with previous announcements to remove restrictions on COVID-19.
The decision – taken more than three months after the governor of New Jersey lifted the mandate for a mask for students of all ages – drew praise from teachers and parents at Big Apple, while leaving some wondering why it took so long for Adams to lift the restriction. .
“I’m excited that the masks have been removed, but I can’t forget the damage they have caused for two years,” said Tamara Bedrosyan, a West Side mother who said her four-year-old son had struggled to learn indoor soundtracks. face .
“As a mother, I’ve never felt so disappointed with a city that didn’t allow me to make healthy decisions for my own son.”
Wearing masks for children under 5 will be optional in day care centers and schools from June 13. AP
Daniela Jampel, a staunch supporter of the abolition of the mask mandate, told The Post that she was “very happy” that young children would be given the same “freedom of choice” as other New Yorkers not to wear masks.
“Young children have been disguised for too long in this city, and today’s announcement is a step towards restoring the normalcy of our youngest residents,” said Jampel, a former city law official and mother of a 4-year-old child who died in April. crashed at Adams’ press conference at City Hall to ask him to repeal the rule.
Chloe Pashman, education director at a pre-school in the Bronx, told The Post that the lack of a mask requirement would give young students “the opportunity to live a full school and socialize and socialize with their friends and teachers.”
“There are some children, they don’t know what their teacher and the faces of their friends look like,” Pashman said. “We were very torn between what to do, how to do what is best for the children, and what we need to do. This will give us the freedom we need.
“We still respect the parents’ choice – if a parent wants their child to wear a mask, they have that choice,” she explained. “It may be the right thing for some children and families, but it’s not the right thing for everyone.”
Adams said back in April that he wanted to lift the mandate for masks for children “within a week or so” as parents staged protests and demanded a meeting with the mayor and city health commissioner. But Adams did not adhere to this time frame.
A month later, the mayor’s office announced that masks would no longer be required in outdoor school areas, such as playgrounds, but retained the mandate for indoor conditions.
In a story on the front page of the Post last week, bored parents tore Adams apart for resigning, with a father calling the mayor not yet triggered “absurd.”
In mid-May, the city’s health department said the risk of spreading COVID-19 was “high” as cases increased but hospitalizations remained low, but Adams chose not to return the indoor mask mandate as color-coded recommended guidelines. on warning.
Thursday’s announcement does not contain any policy changes on how to deal with positive cases of COVID-19 among the age group, and it appears that entire classrooms will still be closed if a young student becomes infected with the virus.
As deaths and hospitalizations from COVID-19 have declined in recent months, elected officials in New York and the state have lifted many regulations caused by the pandemic, including the indoor vaccine passport program and the mandate of state masks in the office.
But the city council’s mandates for vaccines for both municipal and private workers remain in place, as does the New York State mask requirement for public transportation.
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