Mask mandates are now required again in hospitals and health centers across New York City. This rule applies to all 11 hospitals run by New York City’s Health and Hospitals. It started right after Christmas.
The city’s Health and Hospitals spokesperson said, “We’re seeing more cases of COVID, flu, and RSV, so our main goal is to keep our patients, staff, and community safe. This rule covers places like hospitals, health centers, and nursing homes.”
COVID cases went up steadily in December but started to go down a bit at the end of the month. Over 1,300 patients were in hospitals because of COVID as of Tuesday.
Mask mandates are now required again in hospitals and health centers across New York City
At the same time, the city is facing a high level of flu cases, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. Ashwin Vasan, the Health Commissioner, said in an interview with ABC 7, “We don’t want staffing shortages. During the omicron wave in 2022, many frontline health workers got sick with COVID.”
He added, “To all New Yorkers, it’s not certain that you’ll get sick. There are ways we can use to keep ourselves and our families safe from these respiratory illnesses.”
Last February, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul removed mask mandates for people entering hospitals or nursing homes.
