New York State in turn drops the mask

New York State has decided to drop the mask indoors, in the wake of other states governed by Democrats, a response to the weariness of Americans, at a time when the number of Covid-19 contaminations is in freefall in the United States.

As of Thursday, the fourth most populous state in the country (some 20 million inhabitants, including nearly nine million in the megalopolis New York) will no longer impose the wearing of a mask in closed places – shops, restaurants, bathrooms. entertainment, businesses – Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday.

But this obligation remains in force in schools, retirement homes, social and detention centers and it is up to each municipality – including that of New York – and each business to require it or not from its citizens and customers, a said Ms. Hochul.

For example, in the music halls of Broadway in Manhattan, “we maintain the obligation of the mask and the vaccine in all theaters until April 30”, told AFP Charlotte St. Martin, who chairs the Broadway. League.

The mask also remains compulsory in public transport – trains, metros, buses, airports – which fall under federal legislation.

– “Magnificent painting” –

To justify her decision, Governor Hochul boasted of a “magnificent picture” in terms of health and indicators all “down” in the state.

Certainly, she acknowledged, “we are not done (with the Covid-19) but the trend is very, very well oriented and that is why we are now considering a new phase of the pandemic. “.

In the spring of 2020, New York City was the epicenter of the epidemic in the United States, with its dead piled up in refrigerated trucks, its arteries deserted like in a science fiction film. The megalopolis has totaled at least 38,000 deaths from Covid-19 over the past two years.

Wearing a mask is still well respected there by New Yorkers who are much more vaccinated than in the rest of the country. In Manhattan or Brooklyn, shops display sketches of masked faces and you need a vaccination pass and an identity document to consume a simple coffee sitting down.

The State of New York thus follows California, Oregon, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware and Illinois, as many Democratic states which have announced since Monday the gradual lifting between this week and March of the compulsory mask in indoors and/or in schools.

The latest, Democratic Governor of Illinois JB Pritzker summed up the state of mind of his fellow citizens on Wednesday: “We are all tired of wearing masks, it’s obvious,” he said in Chicago. Grandstand.

The leader of this Great Lakes state may be looking with concern further north at Canadian truckers opposed to sanitary measures, which block the capital Ottawa and a bridge on the border between the two giants of North America.

Conversely in many states led by Republicans, such as Florida, the mask has never really been imposed at the state level. Without preventing governors from letting counties and municipalities impose it punctually on schools or in administrations.

– The mask, a political marker –

In fact, the mask is a very strong political marker in the United States, where the obligation to cover the face is considered an infringement of individual freedoms by a large part of the right and the Republican Party. The latter is also well placed to outdo President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party in the legislative elections next November, which will renew part of Congress in Washington.

A sign that the Covid-19 has polarized political positions, the Republican Party accused Wednesday “Joe Biden and the Democrats of having politicized + science + and of now lying about their variable geometry opinions on masks, obligations and confinements” .

In fact, a survey by the Pew Research Institute of more than 10,200 Americans reveals that 60% of them feel “confusion” in the face of changes in the recommendations of health authorities to fight the epidemic.

At the federal level, there is no question of lifting the restrictions yet, but “the time will come when the Covid will not disrupt our daily lives”, assured the coordinator of the fight against Covid-19 at the White House on Wednesday, Jeffrey Zients.

Contaminations in the United States are in freefall with less than 250,000 cases per day on average over seven rolling 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 deaths from Covid-19 in almost two years, according to Johns Hopkins University.

burs-nr/dax

All rights of reproduction and representation reserved. © (2022) Agence France-Presse