N.Y. reduces health staffs’ quarantines
NEW YORK — New York is shortening the amount of time essential workers must stay home after testing positive for COVID-19, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday, seeking to strike a balance between slowing the virus’s rapid spread and keeping critical jobs as fully staffed as possible.
Hochul announced the change during an address in Albany where she also went on a Christmas Eve offensive against her coronavirus critics, insisting that the state acted early and has done everything it could against the rapid spread of the omicron variant.
“We’re going to continue to spread holiday cheer, not COVID,” Hochul said in remarks at the Capitol. “We are going to keep things open. We’re going to do the right things, but we will not get complacent. We are going to get through this battle my friends. We’re smart. We know how to do this. We’re not shutting down business. We’re not shutting down schools.”
Hochul’s speech, including a timeline of measures she has put in place since October, new plans to increase access to testing and vaccines and a Christmas-themed slideshow, appeared not only aimed at rebutting critics and reassuring New Yorkers but also at positioning her as a pragmatic COVID fighter as she gears up for a party primary fight in next year’s election.
One potential rival, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, has stressed in his public appearances in recent days that the time for shutdowns is over.
The governor, who didn’t take questions Friday, has faced blowback from her recently imposed mask mandate — which she said was a way to prevent shutdowns — with some Republican officials calling the measure an overreach and an unnecessary burden on businesses.
More than a dozen counties have said they won’t enforce it.
Hochul on Friday marked four months since she was sworn in to replace Cuomo, who was in charge of the state during the worst of the pandemic before resigning in disgrace in the face of sexual harassment allegations.
Under the state’s new essential worker guidelines, fully vaccinated people working in health care and other frontline fields can return to work after five days, instead of 10 days, if they aren’t showing symptoms or their symptoms are resolving, Hochul said.