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BRONX TIMES REPORTER, MARCH 25-31, 2022 BXR
on where COVID case numbers
are in two weeks. Dr.
Ashwin Vasan, the city’s
new health commissioner,
said they’ll carefully watch
the numbers over the next
two weeks and may have
to adjust if they are higher
than current levels before
or after April 4.
In response to a reporter’s
question about why the
decision to lift this mask
mandate is being made
now, as the new COVID
BA.2 subvariant is on the
rise, Vasan said they’re
currently not seeing evidence
that severe illness
from the variant is tied to
any age group.
“At this point, we’re
very concerned about the
long-term effects of COVID
in everyone,” Vasan said.
“We’re concerned about
the long term effects in our
children, and we’re constantly
monitoring them.
Right now overall risk remains
low. Overall cases in
children remain low. Hospitalizations
in children remain
low, which is giving
us comfort to make this decision
at this point.”
Adams emphasized that
while many parents will be
happy to see the mask mandate
go by the wayside, others
will insist he continue
to keep it in place.
“It doesn’t matter what
decision you make on this,
you’re going to have vociferous
people on all sides of
the conversation,” Adams
said. “And so, we can’t go
by the noise, we have to go
by the science. And we have
to go by the safety of our
children. Every call that
I receive, from parents of
(children) two to four years
old, that say ‘can you do it
right away?’ I get another
call from parents who are
in school or daycare with
the children saying “can
you please don’t do it.’ So,
let’s not think that this argument
or this conversation
is one-sided. It is not.”
And it’s important to
stick with the science, Adams
said, especially in a
city like New York where
people have strong opinions
on both sides of an issue
and it’s impossible to
please everyone.
Mayor lifts mask mandate for kids 2 and 4
BY ETHAN STARK-MILLER
Mayor Eric Adams announced
Tuesday if COVID
19 case numbers hold
steady, children between
the ages of 2 and 4 will no
longer be required to wear
face masks in school and
daycare settings come
April 4.
“We are continuing our
serious moment of peeling
back the masks off the faces
of our people as we continue
the process of getting
our city really back to a
level of normality,” Adams
said. “We want to see our
baby’s faces, I’ve said this
over and over again. And
our children want to see the
faces of their loved ones.”
Parents will still have
the option to have their
children between 2 and 4
continue to wear masks in
school and daycare.
Adams said that after
removing masks for K-12
students two weeks ago, the
administration wanted to
wait two more incubation
periods before removing
the mandate for 2 to 4 yearolds.
“It’s now been two
weeks since we removed
the mask mandate for K-12
public school children, and
our percent positivity in
schools has, thankfully, remained
low,” Adams said.
“Each day, we review the
data, and if we continue to
see low levels of risk, then,
on Monday, April 4, we will
make masks optional for 2-4
year old children in schools
and daycare settings. This
will allow us suffi cient
time to evaluate the numbers
and make sound decisions
for our youngest New
Yorkers. We must get this
right for the health of our
kids, and I refuse to jeopardize
their safety by rushing
a decision.”
However, Adams said,
the decision is contingent
Photo courtesy Getty Images