City’s public hospital system to continue mask requirements

New York City’s public hospital system will continue mask requirements, officials said.

“Currently, we intend to maintain our mask policy to protect our patients and our staff, in keeping with State and CDC guidance,” NYC Health + Hospitals spokesperson said in a statement.

The state announced Friday that its mask mandate at health care facilities will lapse on Sunday, with the acting state health commissioner saying mask policies will fall to the individual health care facilities.

“As we do, and with safe and effective vaccines, treatments, and more, we are able to lift the State’s masking requirement in health care settings as operators now develop and implement their own facility-specific plans, in accordance with federal CDC guidance and the level of transmission in their areas,” acting state Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said in a statement Friday.

Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn on Saturday announced its plans to lift the mask requirement in specific areas of the facility.

“As of February 12, Maimonides will be lifting the mask requirement for staff in non-patient care areas only. We will continue to assess our masking protocol and further adjust as circumstances warrant, consistent with the DOH guidance,” hospital officials said in a statement.

Some other facilities haven’t made a final decision yet.

“We are always reviewing the latest scientific evidence and governmental guidelines to keep our policy current and will communicate any changes when a determination is made in the next few days,” NewYork-Presbyterian wrote in a statement.

New York City has seen a decline in transmission rates of COVID-19 over the past month, according to health department data.

The city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for public-sector workers ended Friday. The city dropped its vaccine mandate for private-sector workers this past November.

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