STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- New York state health officials announced that face mask requirements for hospitals and other health care facilities will be lifted on Sunday.
Acting state Health Commissioner James V. McDonald made the remarks during a meeting of the state’s Public Health & Health Planning Council on Thursday.
The previous mandate had applied staff, patients and visitors. The rule change will apply to hospitals, nursing homes, home health care and hospice agencies, and diagnostic and treatment centers.
Enacting masking policies will fall on individual health care facilities after Sunday, McDonald added.
“We do see our COVID infections as a state decreasing, we see our hospitalizations levels more importantly decreasing” said McDonald. “It allows us to shift from blanket mandates to an approach in which we provide people with the information and tools they need to protect themselves, and their families and their organizations.”
McDonald noted that given recent numbers of COVID infections and vaccinations throughout the state, the department can lift the mandate.
“I want to underscore the pandemic is not over — we are in a period of transition, however,” he said to the panel.
On Friday, New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for its workers came to an end. With more than 96% of New York City employees now fully vaccinated for coronavirus (COVID-19) the mandate was lifted.
The city will make COVID-19 vaccination optional for current and prospective city workers and DOE employees effective on Feb.10, 2023, following the expected ratification at the next city Board of Health meeting on Feb. 9, the Advance/SILive.com previously reported.
At this point, the city said it has fully processed and issued decisions for all “pending reasonable accommodation appeals.”
The city will also end the vaccination requirements for nonpublic school, early child care and daycare staff.