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Governor Hochul Announces
Major Action to Address Winter Surge and Prevent Business Disruption as
COVID-19 Cases and Hospitalizations Rise
Published: December 10, 2021
at 10:30 a.m.
By: Press Release from Governor Hochul’s
Office
Governor Hochul Announces Major Action to Address Winter Surge
and Prevent Business Disruption as COVID-19 Cases and Hospitalizations Rise
Statewide
Hochul Shares New Yorkers' Frustration with Winter
Surge, Says We Do Not Have to Be Here But We
Are
Hochul Thanks More than 80% of New Yorkers for Getting
Fully Vaccinated and Doing the Right Thing
To Protect the
Health of New Yorkers, Businesses and Venues Must Implement a Mask
Requirement or Require Proof of Fully Vaccinated Status
Hochul Gives Options to Businesses with Mask or
Vaccine Requirement
State to Reassess
Measure on Jan. 15, 2022
Governor
Kathy Hochul today announced masks will
be required to be worn in all indoor public places unless businesses or
venues implement a vaccine requirement. This a major action to address the
winter surge comes as COVID-19 cases
and hospitalizations rise statewide to be in alignment with
the CDC's
recommendations for communities with substantial and high
transmission. The State Health Commissioner issued a determination
solidifying the requirement.
This determination is
based on the State's weekly seven-day case rate as well as increasing
hospitalizations. The new business and venue requirements extend to
both patrons and staff. This measure is effective Dec. 13, 2021 until Jan. 15, 2022, after which the State will
re-evaluate based on current conditions. The new measure brings added
layers of mitigation during the holidays when more time is spent indoors
shopping, gathering, and visiting holiday-themed
destinations.
"As Governor, my two top priorities are to protect the
health of New Yorkers and to protect the health of our economy. The
temporary measures I am taking today will help accomplish this through the
holiday season. We shouldn't have reached the point where we are confronted
with a winter surge, especially with the vaccine at our disposal, and I
share many New Yorkers' frustration that we are not past this pandemic
yet," Governor Hochul said. "I
want to thank the more than 80 percent of New Yorkers who have done the
right thing to get fully vaccinated. If others will follow suit, these
measures will no longer be necessary."
"I have
warned for weeks that additional steps could be necessary, and now we are
at that point based upon three metrics: Increasing cases, reduced hospital
capacity, and insufficient vaccination rates in certain areas," Governor Hochul added.
Since
Thanksgiving, the statewide seven-day average case rate has increased by
43% and hospitalizations have increased by 29%. While the percentage of New
Yorkers fully vaccinated continues to increase—gaining 2% from
Thanksgiving weekend to now—the uptick is not fast enough to completely
curb the spread of the virus, particularly among communities with low
vaccination coverage.
The State Department of Health has produced nation-leading studies,
published in the CDC's MMWR and
the New
England Journal of Medicine, which demonstrate the COVID-19 vaccines'
effectiveness - particularly in preventing severe disease. The Department
continues to urge eligible New Yorkers of all ages to get fully vaccinated
and boosted as soon as possible.
Acting Health
Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett said, "Community
spread requires a community-minded solution, as the Omicron variant emerges and the overwhelmingly dominant Delta variant
continues to circulate. We have the tools we need to protect against the
virus - and now we must ensure we use them. There are tools each individual can use, and there are actions we can
take as government. Getting vaccinated protects you, and wearing a mask is
how we will better protect each other. Both vaccination and mask-wearing
are needed to slow this COVID-19 winter
surge."
A violation of
any provision of this measure is subject to all civil and criminal
penalties, including a maximum fine of $1,000 for each violation. Local
health departments are being asked to enforce these
requirements.
Business/Venue
Proof of Full-Course Vaccination Requirement
Businesses and
venues who implement a proof of vaccination requirement can accept
Excelsior Pass, Excelsior Pass Plus, SMART Health Cards issued outside of
New York State, or a CDC Vaccination Card. In accordance with CDC's
definition of fully vaccinated, full-course vaccination is defined as 14
days past an individual's last vaccination dose in their initial vaccine
series (14 days past the second shot of a two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech or
Moderna vaccine; 14 days past the one-shot Janssen/Johnson & Johnson
vaccine). The State also accepts WHO-approved vaccines for these purposes.
Parents and guardians can retrieve and store an Excelsior Pass and/or
Excelsior Pass Plus for children or minors under legal
guardianship.
Business/Venue
Mask-Wearing Requirement
Businesses and
venues that implement a mask requirement must ensure all patrons two years
and older wear a mask at all times while
indoors.
Continued Masking
Requirements
Unvaccinated
individuals continue to be responsible for wearing masks, in accordance
with federal
CDC guidance. Further, the State's masking requirements continue to be
in effect for pre-K
to grade 12 schools, public transit, homeless shelters, correctional
facilities, nursing homes, and health care settings per CDC
guidelines.
New York State
and the State's Department of Health continue to strongly recommend
mask-wearing in all public indoor settings as an added layer of protection,
even when not required. Children 2 - 5 who remain ineligible for
vaccination must wear a proper-fitting mask.
COVID-19 vaccines and booster
doses are free and widely available statewide. New Yorkers can
visit vaccines.gov, text their ZIP code to 438829, or call 1-800-232-0233
to find nearby locations. To schedule an appointment at a state-run mass
vaccination site, New Yorkers can visit the Am-I-Eligible
site. New Yorkers can also contact their health care provider, county
health departments, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), rural
health centers, or pharmacies.
New Yorkers can retrieve their Excelsior Pass or Excelsior Pass Plus here.
Businesses and venues can download the Excelsior
Pass Scanner app—free for any business nationwide and available in more
than ten languages—here.
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