Indoor COVID-19 mask mandate should be extended, medical experts say

Medical experts on Thursday recommended that Gov. Kathy Hochul renew a mask mandate for public indoor places, if she gets the chance to do so after a court showdown Friday on whether the requirement can stand there and in schools.

The mask mandate for indoor public places including restaurants, stores, theaters and gyms expires Tuesday, and medical experts on Long Island said it is too soon to drop it amid the COVID-19 omicron surge. The emergency regulation for schools expires Feb. 21.

"I think we all agree that rates are dramatically falling, that the mask mandate won’t need to be in place for a prolonged period of time assuming rates continue to fall anything near the way they have been falling," said Dr. Bruce Farber, chief of public health and epidemiology for Northwell Health.

"I think it’s coming," he said of ending the mask mandate for indoor public places. "My own personal view would be I would love to see it extended for several weeks. We’re not quite ready. We’re getting there but I don’t see the rush."

Dr. David Hirschwerk, medical director of North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset and an infectious disease expert, said that "masking in indoor spaces remains an important tool while community (COVID-19) rates remain high. Even though our rates have come down dramatically, they are still somewhat elevated and so I still see value" in keeping the mandate intact until the rates drop more.

Sean Clouston, an associate professor of public health at Stony Brook University, said there is a danger of the declining numbers reversing themselves and setting off a new surge if the mandate is lifted too quickly.

"We could easily just start a new wave with everybody taking their masks off and acting with abandon," he said. "I think it’s a little bit premature."

"We are not anywhere near out of the woods," he added.

Hochul has said she will likely announce her decision on the mandate for general indoor public places right before it is set to expire. She has not indicated which way she will go.

"Now I am so looking forward to the day to say these are history, we don't have to do this any longer," Hochul said Tuesday in Syracuse. "All of us are. I don't want to keep any requirements for safety in place a day longer than necessary. But I will not do it a day before we can do it safely. And that is my commitment."

Long Island has seen a mixed record on enforcement and compliance with the mandate, with some larger chain stores enforcing it fairly strictly but other businesses being more lax.

Hirschwerk said he could foresee dropping the mandate sometime in February if the numbers continue to go down.

"It’s not something that should last forever and we should all feel very good about how rapidly the rates are coming down," he said. "We’re on a really good trajectory and it’s sensible to keep that momentum going before making any significant changes. But I think you can be very optimistic that we’re getting to the point where removing it is going to be sensible."

Clouston, however, warned that we need to see the numbers drop to at least half of where they are before ending the mandate.

Omicron "is very capable of transmitting, and as we’ve seen over the last month, it is very capable of putting people in the hospital and of causing mortality," he said. "When people are told to wear a mask not everybody does, but some people do. But if you say everybody can take it off, it’s as though it’s safe, and it’s really not right now."

Farber said he was concerned that if the mandate is dropped now, "it’s very, very hard to put it back into place once it’s gone."

Hochul is under pressure from all sides on the masking issue, with some parents especially demanding that they be eliminated in schools.

State Supreme Court Judge Thomas Rademaker on Monday ruled in Mineola that the state’s mandate for masks in schools and indoor public places is illegal because it should have gone through the legislature rather than Hochul and the state Health Department imposing it.

That led to many school districts on Long Island declaring Tuesday a mask-optional day — the first time some students went to school without a face covering since the pandemic began.

The state obtained a "stay" or temporary suspension of the ruling Tuesday afternoon, so the mandate was back in place for school on Wednesday — though not after more than a day of widespread confusion in districts over how to handle the rapidly changing situation.

Experts said masking in schools is critical to keeping COVID-19 under control.

"I think a mandate for masks in schools is a good idea," said Martine Hackett, director of public health programs at Hofstra University, pointing to the still-high number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. "The importance of a mask mandate in schools means that everybody has to comply."

The state and the plaintiffs in the case, a group of parents, must present their arguments to the state Appellate Court by 10 a.m. Friday. A decision on whether the mandate stands or not is expected next week, court officials said.

On Wednesday and Thursday, at least six school boards voted in special meetings to allow Nicholas C. Rigano of Melville-based law firm Rigano LLC to file an amicus curiae brief before Friday’s hearing. The districts are Massapequa, Connetquot, Island Trees, Lindenhurst, Carle Place and Locust Valley.

The amicus brief aims to show their support for upholding the ruling striking down the mandate.

Legal experts say Rademaker’s ruling faces long odds, since previous court decisions dating back nearly a century have upheld state agencies’ authority to make regulations that carry the weight of law.

If the court rules in Hochul's favor and no further appeal is heard, she will have to decide on the school regulation by Feb. 21.

At the Cold Spring Harbor Jr./Sr. High School on Thursday, about 25 students walked out of classes to protest the mask mandate. Before the walkout, administrators notified school staff and assigned extra security to the campus.

Daniel J. Danbusky, the high school principal, wrote in a letter to parents that the walkout was not sanctioned by the school and participation may violate the code of conduct "as events such as this may have the potential to cause disruption to the academic setting."

Danbusky wrote that normal school operations continued Thursday afternoon.

Nassau registered 1,051 new daily cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, Suffolk had 1,171 and the state had 17,305.

Statewide, 134 people including 8 each in Nassau and Suffolk died on Wednesday of causes linked to the virus. Long Island's seven-day average for positivity continued to decline, hitting 9.95%.

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