Jon Campbell and David Robinson – New York State Team | USA TODAY NETWORK – in the D&C on 6/5/21
ALBANY — New York will no longer require students, teachers and staff to wear masks inside school buildings beginning Monday, reversing a policy that had been in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
In a letter Friday, state Health Commissioner Howard Zucker revealed he will alter the state’s mask requirements for schools to align them with summer camps, removing the mandate for the final days of
the academic year and for camps as they get set to begin.
Starting Monday, mask use in schools will be “strongly encouraged” by the state but no longer required – even if the student or teacher is not fully vaccinated, Zucker wrote in his letter to Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Indoors, mask use will be strongly encouraged but not required for students, campers, and staff/ teachers/counselors who are not fully vaccinated,” Zucker wrote. “Outdoors, masks are not required; students, campers, and staff/teachers/counselors who are not fully vaccinated are ‘encouraged’ to wear a mask in certain higher-risk circumstances.”