Masks, mandates and modesty
As we wrote over the weekend, Gov. Hochul is right and right on time in imposing a statewide mask mandate for all indoor public spaces without vaccination requirements, an important way to prevent more onerous clampdowns. COVID-19 positivity and hospitalization rates are up significantly statewide, and some hospitals upstate are on the verge of being overwhelmed. As last-minute shoppers crowd together and families gather for the holidays, as a highly contagious new variant enters the equation, those increases could become sharp spikes if people, especially unvaccinated people, don’t take care.
But New York is a big state, and a mandate is a blunt instrument when applied to all 20 million of us across all 54,500 square miles, no matter how severe the conditions in any given place may be. So Hochul’s single, simple rule makes sense for now, but it must be limited by time and shaped by on-theground realities.
Mayor-elect Eric Adams likes it, which makes sense because it parallels many restrictions already in place in the COVID-wary, COVID-worried five boroughs. But he’s likely to bring a gentle hand to enforcement, as Mayor de Blasio has signaled he’s doing, which means compliance will be spotty. Bruce Blakeman, newly elected county executive in Nassau, population 1.3 million, is among a handful of county leaders who say they won’t enforce the mandate at all.
“Nassau County is not in crisis,” Blakeman says, “and should not be painted with the same broad brush as the rest of the state. Ninety-seven percent of adults in Nassau County have received at least their first dose of the vaccine and Nassau hospitals have adequate capacity to handle existing demand.”
Even mask evangelists like us can acknowledge that he’s got a point: Vaccination is the best protection, and restrictions should react to real threats, not phantom ones. Especially with the omicron variant looking far less virulent than feared, Hochul must be prepared to loosen the vise when the new year rolls around and apply rules region by region, consistent with the data.