Students in New York State can be unmasked while outdoors during the school day, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today.
The governor said the “CDC said it was not advisable to lift the mask requirement indoors.”
New York on Friday sought to lift the mask requirement inside school buildings.
The CDC issues guidance for schools nationwide and won’t be changing its guidance “for several weeks,” according to the governor. But New York State, in light of the low COVID infection rates here, is modifying its guidance to allow schools to choose to allow children to go unmasked outdoors. The CDC had “no objection,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo said it is important to align the rules for schools with camps, where children do not have to wear masks outdoors, regardless of vaccination status.
“Right now there’s a disconnect between school guidance and camp guidance,” Cuomo said.
On Friday, N.Y. State health commissioner Howard Zucker wrote to CDC director Rochelle Walensky.
“New York State plans to align our school and camp mask guidance,” Zucker wrote to Walensky. ”In both settings, masks will be strongly encouraged but not required for students, campers, and staff/teachers/counselors who are not fully vaccinated,” Zucker wrote. Outdoors, masks would not be required, he wrote.
“If there is any data or science that you are aware of that contradicts moving forward with this approach, please let me know as soon as possible,” Zucker wrote. “We plan to make this guidance effective on Monday, June 7.”
The letter was posted on the governor’s letter Friday afternoon and drew immediate criticism from the New York State United Teachers, the state’s largest teachers union.
“Announcing on a Friday afternoon that masks will now be optional for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people in schools starting Monday — with only three weeks remaining in the school year — is whiplash-inducing news,” said NYSUT president Andy Pallotta in a statement issued late Friday afternoon.
“Short of any additional guidance from the state or the CDC before Monday, we implore school districts to closely evaluate local conditions and connect with their educators and parents to decide the best course of action for protecting their school community,” Palotta said.
The Riverhead school district on Saturday notified families and staff that masks would not be required as of Monday, unless otherwise directed by the state.
On Sunday afternoon, “the State Education Department issued a directive to school districts indicating that mask requirements must stay in place until additional information is provided by state authorities,” Interim Superintendent Christine Tona said in a notice to the school community.
There were reports of confusion among school officials throughout the state about the health commissioner’s letter and whether schools could lift mask requirements on Monday.
Cuomo today denied there was any confusion in the state’s policy announcement.
“There was no confusion with the schools. We said on Friday we were asking the CDC for guidance and we would tell the schools on Monday what the guidance was, which I just did,” Cuomo said.
“We never said on Monday anything goes into effect,” he said. “I said on Monday, I will tell you after we talked to the CDC, and we talked to the CDC, and they agreed with our decision to lift the mask mandate outside.”
The new guidance set forth in Zucker’s June 4 letter to the CDC actually said the state intended to lift mask mandates for students and staff both indoors and outdoors. Zucker stated New York’s new policy would go into effect Monday unless the state heard contradictory information from the CDC over the weekend.
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