NYC Ends Outdoor Mask Mandate For Schools

New York City NY

25 February, 2022

9:33 AM

Description

By Reema Amin, Chalkbeat New York February 25, 2022 New York City students will no longer be required to wear masks outdoors on school grounds, the department announced Friday. Masks will still be mandatory inside of school buildings, officials said in a news release. The change, which goes into effect Monday, means students can participate in recess or other outdoor activities without wearing masks. Officials said they are lifting the outdoor mask mandate because the city's in-school positivity rate has dropped under 1%. Those results, however, come from swabs taken at school and cover a tiny share of the school population. Cases spiked after winter break, as the omicron variant of COVID ripped through New York City — resulting in major disruptions in staffing and student attendance. "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," Chancellor David Banks 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." While the indoor mask mandate remains in schools, changes could be on the horizon. Gov. Kathy Hochul said there's a "very strong possibility" she will lift the statewide mask mandate for schools by the second week of March, after she reviews data on COVID positivity rates, vaccinations and hospitalizations. If Hochul scraps the mandate, city schools could still choose to keep masks in place. Mayor Eric Adams appears eager to shed city masking rules in the coming weeks, though he's provided no timeline. This story was originally published by Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization covering public education. Sign up for their newsletters here.