Cuomo Encourages Counties in New York to Adopt the CDC's New Mask Guidance

Gov. Andrew Cuomo encouraged eligible local governments on Monday to adopt new guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control that recommends masks be worn indoors, regardless of vaccination status, in areas with substantial or high COVID-19 transmission rates.

Cuomo also said that, if the state’s COVID-19 numbers continue to rise, he would recommend that teachers and workers at nursing homes be vaccinated in order to work.

Because he no longer has the emergency powers granted to him last year by the Legislature, Cuomo said that, by law, he can’t issue any new mandates for masks or vaccines on neither a statewide nor local level.

"Right now this is all up to local governments,” Cuomo said. “If they don't act, we'll end up where we were last year where we're in a state of emergency and the state has to act.”

Cuomo can, however, issue mandates for state government workers, assuming their labor unions agree to those requirements. He said Monday that employees of the MTA and Port Authority would have to be vaccinated or get tested weekly for the virus.

That follows his announcement last week that state workers under his control and staff at state-run nursing homes would have to either be vaccinated to submit to weekly testing. 

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio made a similar announcement days earlier, saying city employees would follow the same requirement. But, as of Monday, de Blasio had not said if the CDC’s new guidance would be formally adopted in the five boroughs.

De Blasio isn’t alone on that. As of Monday, none of the state’s counties or local governments had adopted that guidance, despite eligible transmission rates monitored by the CDC.

Cuomo also said that school districts, who’ve been waiting for COVID-19 guidance from the state, should decide now how they’ll handle virus transmission rates in their facilities. That could include mask mandates, or vaccination requirements, for staff at schools.

"I believe school districts should say that today to the teachers in this current situation," Cuomo said.

NYSUT, the state's largest teachers union, said in a statement in response to Cuomo's recommendation that school districts should provide free and accessible testing, but shouldn't require staff to be vaccinated.

"We would support local efforts to encourage more vaccinations, such as through programs that require that those who are not vaccinated get tested on a regular basis," the statement said. "But it’s critical that districts come up with plans to make testing available on-site and at no cost. What we have not supported is a vaccine mandate.”

Those recommendations come as New York state continues to see a rise in hospitalizations and the COVID-19 positivity rate.

New York’s average COVID-19 positivity rate, measured over a period of seven days, reached 2.5% Sunday, the highest it’s been since April 21. There were 738 hospitalizations, as of Sunday. That’s the most the state has reported since June 9.

The new uptick in New York’s COVID-19 numbers are due to the spread of the Delta variant, Cuomo said, which transmits more easily than the original strain of the virus. That’s bumped up New York’s numbers, particularly among those not vaccinated.

According to the CDC, masks are recommended indoors in areas with what they define as “substantial” or “high” transmission rates. To qualify, counties must report at least 50 new cases per every 100,000 residents over the span of a week.

While the data changes rapidly, there were 23 counties in New York that qualified for the new mask guidance as of Monday morning, per the CDC.

Counties with a “high” transmission rate, as defined by the CDC, currently include: Nassau County, Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Manhattan.

Counties with a “substantial” transmission rate, as defined by the CDC, currently include: Albany County, the Bronx, Chenango County, Columbia County, Erie County, Monroe County,  Onondaga County, Orange County,  Putnam County, Queens, Rensselaer County,  Saratoga County,  Schenectady County, Schoharie County, Seneca County, Suffolk County, Sullivan County, Tompkins County, and Westchester County.