Blue states, such as New York and California, are ushering mask mandates back in as the United States approaches the two-year mark of the start of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.
On Monday, New York began its latest mask requirement, which Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced on Friday, forcing businesses to choose between checking the vaccination status of customers or mandating masks for all. The requirement is not slated to end until January 15, 2022, but the state will still “re-evaluate based on current conditions,” meaning the rule could extend even further.
“I want to thank the more than 80 percent of New Yorkers who have done the right thing to get fully vaccinated,” the governor said in a statement, mildly scolding unvaccinated Americans and essentially blaming them for the additional mitigation measures — much like President Biden did mere months ago.
“If others will follow suit, these measures will no longer be necessary,” she added.
Similarly, the Golden State is ushering back in mask requirements, which go into effect December 15 and end on the same day as New York’s rule — January 15, 2022.
California’s rule requires masks to be worn “in all indoor public settings, irrespective of vaccine status, for the next four weeks.” The requirement applies to virtually everyone — even toddlers — with few exemptions, applying to babies and those with disabilities.
Like New York, California also pitched the requirement as an “added layer of mitigation” in the wake of the Omicron variant, which appears to be a mild variant, as observed by public health officials.
“There is some suggestion that it [Omicron] might even be less severe, because when you look at some of the cohorts that are being followed in South Africa, the ratio between the number of infections and the number of hospitalizations seems to be less than with Delta,” Fauci said last week.
The renewed mask mandates come as the U.S. approaches the two-year mark of the pandemic. Notably, one year ago, Fauci said the pandemic would not last “a lot longer” due to the emergence of vaccines, which public health officials presented as the key to return to a state of pre-pandemic normalcy. That, however, has not been the case in terms of the erasure of mask mandates and other mitigation measures.
Florida, which has never once had a statewide mask mandate in place, is currently tied with Hawaii for having the lowest daily coronavirus cases per capita in the nation.