New York will order everyone to wear a face mask or covering in public situations where social distancing of six or more feet isn’t possible, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced at his daily briefing today.
Cuomo will sign an executive order today with the new requirement, which will take effect Saturday, he said.
The order comes as Cuomo considers a “gradual reopening” of the state’s economy, which slammed to a halt last month after New York closed most businesses and schools across the state.
“It’s going to be a calibrated reopening based on public safety and the infection rate,” he said today. “When you relax the social distancing, you could very well see an increase in the infection rate.”
LIVE UPDATES: Coronavirus coverage, maps and cases by town.
New York is reporting an additional 752 deaths from the coronavirus today.
A total of 11,486 people statewide have died from the virus since the beginning of the outbreak, a number which Cuomo said may rise sharply after the state gets a more complete picture of fatalities that have occurred outside of hospitals and nursing homes.
Although new COVID-19 hospitalizations remain high – 2,253 people were admitted to the hospital yesterday, an increase over the past two days – total hospitalizations is decreasing as patients are discharged.
New York’s ability to “flatten the curve” of total hospitalizations so far has prevented the health system from becoming overwhelmed, Cuomo said. But continuing regulations will be necessary in order to prevent the spread from escalating again once restrictions begin to lift and people begin returning to work.
Today’s executive order will require people in public to wear a mask or face covering that screens both the mouth and the nose if they cannot maintain a distance greater than six feet.
He said that someone walking alone on an empty street would not need a mask, but if they were approaching an intersection where other pedestrians were waiting, they would need to put their mask or face covering on.
“You’re right to go out for a walk in the park because you need to get out of the house,” he said. “But don’t infect me. You don’t have a right to infect me.”
There will not be any civil penalties to enforce the order yet, but Cuomo said he will consider fines if there is widespread non-compliance.
Such regulations will be part of New York “new normal” until a vaccine is released on a broad scale, which could take 12 to 18 months, Cuomo said.
While the state is waiting on a vaccine, Cuomo laid out a number of factors that could help New York return to some semblance of normal life, including widespread antibody testing and the development of a robust system for contact tracing.
The presence of antibodies in someone’s blood would indicate they have already been exposed to the virus and therefore have some immunity to it, which could allow them to safely return to the workplace, Cuomo said.
Contact tracing involves the identification of every individual an infected person has come into contact with, so those people can be tested and isolated if necessary.
New York does not currently have the resources or staffing to perform rigorous contact tracing for all of its infections, Cuomo said, and the state’s ability to produce and conduct antibody testing is also extremely limited at this point.
New York will need assistance from the federal government to conduct either of these things on any significant level, Cuomo said.
The survival of local journalism depends on your support.
We are a small family-owned operation. You rely on us to stay informed, and we depend on you to make our work possible. Just a few dollars can help us continue to bring this important service to our community.
Support RiverheadLOCAL today.
