New York City Mayor Eric Adams is bowing to parental pressure to end mandatory masks for children under five on April 4.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams will lift the mandate to wear masks for children under five next month, he announced on Tuesday, just three days after New York’s new health commissioner said toddlers would wear masks indefinitely.
The mask mandate, which some parents have protested, will be lifted on April 4 while the number of COVID-19 cases continues to decline, Adams said at a briefing Tuesday along with new New York Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Wasan.
“I have always said that science will get us out of the pandemic, and because we follow the data, we are winning the fight against COVID-19,” Adams said. “New York is currently in a low-risk environment.”
New York State lifted school mask requirements on March 2, and the city lifted the mandate on March 7, making masks optional for students ages 5 and older.
“Let’s be clear that this is unprecedented territory right now — if anyone tells you they know what will happen, what COVID will bring to all of us in the future, they are lying,” Adams said.
More than 100 parents and their children previously gathered at New York City Hall on Sunday to demand Adams “expose our little ones” just days after Wasan sparked outrage by announcing that children aged five and under must wear masks. For undefined period.
“We must get this right for the sake of our children’s health, and I refuse to risk their safety by rushing to a decision,” he said. “Our schools have been among the safest places for our children since the start of the pandemic and we will only lift this requirement if the science says it is safe. I’ve said this before: I’m with the parents of New Yorkers and New Yorkers can trust this administration to continue to make proper public health decisions to keep our children safe.”
The preliminary start date for the lifting of the mask mandate is April 4.
Wasan on Tuesday reminded New Yorkers to respect people’s decisions about camouflage, saying you don’t know what people are dealing with.
“We don’t see BA.2 causing more severe disease in any age group,” Vasan said. “At this point, we are very concerned about the effects of prolonged COVID on everyone.”
He added that the overall risk for children and cases remains low.