The governor of New York Kathy Hochul announced that as of this Wednesday the mandatory use of masks inside closed places.
The measure had generated strong controversies in shops, restaurants and companies.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said that the measure that established that obligation will not be renewed when it expires on Thursday.
He indicated that from now on it will be the cities or companies that determine whether the use of this resource once morest COVID-19 is necessary in closed places.
The obligation to wear masks will remain, however, in schools until March and it will be the municipalities and businesses who will then determine whether they will require it from their administrators and customers, Hochul told the press.
Although the state and megalopolis of New York they were the epicenter of the pandemic in 2020, with at least 38,000 deaths in two years in the city alone, Hochul said today all health indicators are “down.”
“It is a magnificent panorama (…) We are not finished but the trend is very, very well oriented and so now we are considering a new phase of the pandemic,” said the Democratic governor.
The state of New York he has joined others led by the Democratic Party who have announced identical measures to abandon the mandatory nature of the mask since Monday, like California, New Jersey or even Connecticut.
The use of masks to prevent the spread of covid is a very strong political marker in the United States, where the obligation to cover the face is considered a violation of individual freedoms by much of the right and the Republican Party.
Never has such a measure been in force in Republican-ruled states such as Florida or Texas.
Covid infections are in free fall in the United States, with just under 250,000 cases per day on average for seven consecutive days, according to health authorities, far from the peak of 800,000 cases reached in mid-January.
However, on February 4, the country crossed the bar of 900,000 COVID-19 deaths in nearly two years, according to Johns Hopkins University.