New York City schools lifting outdoor mask mandate starting Monday
NEW YORK - With the Omicron variant dissipating, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is easing indoor mask wearing guidelines as New York City says public school students will no longer have to wear face coverings when outdoors on school grounds.
CBS2's political reporter Marcia Kramer says that while Mayor Eric Adams is looking forward to eliminating most mandates within a few weeks. Parents have mixed reactions to easing school restrictions during the pandemic.
Indoor mask wearing will be a thing of the past for many Americans as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidelines that significantly loosens face covering requirements in areas with low levels of disease.
"We want to give people a break from things like mask wearing while our levels are low and then have the ability to reach for them again should things get worse in the future," said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.
The CDC also eased its masking requirements in schools, saying only kids in communities with high levels of COVID-19 would be required to wear face coverings in the classroom.
Mayor Adams says he's impatient for a return to normalcy.
"I am so tired of wearing these masks," Adams said. "I want to get back to a maskless city, but we don't want to do it and be reckless in our anticipation."
The mayor predicted that the so-called "endemic," when many of the mandates go bye-bye here, is weeks away. But he said he's going to be careful in how he does it.
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"All of us want to get these masks off our faces, but we have to do it in a safe way. I can't go back to closing down the city," Adams said. "When my doctors tell me 'Eric, it's good to peel back another layer,' we're going to pull back another layer."
Schools Chancellor David Banks peeled back a layer, announcing that starting Monday masks will no longer be required when kids are outside on school grounds. They will still have to wear masks in the classrooms.
"Throughout the pandemic, our schools have remained some of the safest spaces for our students and staff, thanks to our gold standard health and safety protocol," he said in a statement. "I am so pleased that we are able to make this exciting announcement and safely allow students and staff to remove their masks when outdoors at NYC public schools."
Parents have mixed reactions.
Upper West Side parent Natalya Murakhver, who has two kids in public school, says its an outrage to require classroom face coverings.
"I have a 7-year-old who has been masked since she was 5, and I have an 11-year-old who has been masked since she was 9. They don't see their friends' faces. They don't see their teachers' faces. They're not able to smile at each other. This is a huge loss. We will never recover from it," she said.
"I prefer for them to wear their masks until there's more information about how the virus is spread," said parent Julie Moody-Lewis.
The mayor says he's anxious to see an end to mandates for New York City's economy to recover from the pandemic.
Relaxing the rules in New York City could also affect Nets basketball star Kyrie Irving. He can't play in New York City right now because he refuses to get vaccinated.
Masks will still be required for everyone inside school buildings.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has said her team will reassess the statewide school mask mandate after students return from winter break.