Mandate Masks in Indoor Public Spaces and Schools in NY

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Mandate Masks in Indoor Public Spaces and Schools in NY

Governor Hochul and Commissioner Bassett

Please sign this letter and call on NY Governor Kathy Hochul and Health Commissioner Dr Mary Bassett to reinstate the mask mandate in all public indoor spaces and schools!

COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are rising across NY and more transmissible variant of Omicron is spreading across the state. We are in another surge.

Masks and mask mandates are essential to help stop the spread of COVID-19 and help mitigate the surge.

If you would like to take further action, learn more at MandateMasksNY.org.

Sponsored by

COVID Advocacy NY

To: Governor Hochul and Commissioner Bassett
From: [Your Name]

April 29, 2022
Updated: August 8, 2022

Honorable Kathy Hochul
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224

Dr. Mary T. Bassett, MD, MPH, Commissioner
New York State Department of Health
Corning Tower
Empire State Plaza
Albany, NY 12237

Dear Governor Hochul and Commissioner Bassett,

We urge you to reinstate the mask mandate in all public indoor spaces and schools in New York State.

COVID-19 rates are high across NY and a more transmissible variant of Omicron is spreading across the state. We are in another surge.

Masks and mask mandates are essential to help stop the spread of COVID-19 and help mitigate the surge.

COVID-19 is a deadly airborne virus that can also cause Long COVID and serious long-term health issues. Mask mandates help prevent transmission and make public indoor spaces safer for everyone, including the most vulnerable. People have a right to be safe in apartment building hallways and elevators, grocery stores, laundromats, pharmacies, banks, schools, workplaces, and other places.

Without a mask mandate, people at high-risk are forced to choose between staying home and endangering their lives and may not be able to access the essential services they need to survive.

Many New Yorkers are at increased risk for COVID-19. Many people in NY remain unvaccinated or have not yet received a booster.

Vaccines don’t protect everyone equally. Many people are immunocompromised. The majority of Americans have underlying health conditions that put them at higher-risk for severe COVID-19. Over 75% of US adults have at least one increased-risk condition for severe COVID, according to research in the American Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

Communities of color and low-income populations have been the hardest hit by COVID and disproportionately work in jobs that put them at an increased risk of exposure. Mask mandates help address these inequities by helping to protect the people that are most impacted and most at risk.

We need to reinstate mask mandates in all public indoor spaces and schools to keep everyone safe and prevent another large COVID-19 surge.

New Yorkers’ lives depend on it.

Thank you for your attention to this important issue.

Thank you,