COVID-19 in New York: No new statewide mandates immediately planned, Hochul says

ALBANY - Gov. Kathy Hochul cautioned that she has no immediate plans to enact sweeping new COVID-19 mandates even as the new variant looms and as positivity rates soar across upstate New York.

Hochul stressed she is prepared to install COVID safety measures if the virus' spread worsens, but so far she is encouraging people to wear masks and get vaccinated.

But even as she urges New Yorkers to wear masks indoors, Hochul has refrained from suggesting she would install a indoor mask mandate statewide, saying she supports counties who choose to do so.

"We don’t need that one size fits all approach, but I’m prepared to make everything statewide is necessary," Hochul said at a COVID briefing Thursday.

The Democratic governor, who is running for a full term next year after taking over for disgraced Gov. Andrew Cuomo in August, has sought to empower counties to make more COVID decisions.

So far, only Erie County has re-imposed an indoor mask mandate. New York City requires workers and patrons to be vaccinated inside restaurants, gyms and entertainment venues.

Whether to implement a statewide mask mandate became a campaign issue Thursday.

Attorney General Letitia James, who is vying for Hochul for the Democratic nomination for governor, said New York should implement a mask mandate.

“We can do better in the state of New York. We should issue a mask mandate," James said Thursday night on NY1.

James said the state should bolster testing and vaccine efforts, such as having mobile vans and more home testing kits.

"We’ve got to think outside the box. We need bold leadership and individuals who can get things done," James charged.

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Hochul noted that local decision making is important, alluding to Cuomo's heavy-handed approach that angered local leaders during the pandemic.

Also, COVID rates vary by region, she said, meaning one statewide policy might not work for every area.

The seven-day average of COVID positivity rate on Wednesday was 1.9% in New York City, but 10.5% in western New York and nearly 10% in the Finger Lakes and Mohawk Valley. It was about 3.5% in the Hudson Valley.

"Ignoring local health departments is not a strategy I’m going to be engaging in," Hochul told reporters.

"That was a big difference" under Cuomo, she suggested: "It was only New York will be addressing this. Only New York will be making the decisions. Only New York will be staffing vaccinations sites with our teams, as opposed to the local people on the ground who have strong opinions about this."

Hochul said the increasing COVID rates, along with the omicron variant arrival in the U.S. that is also linked to a Minnesota patient who recently visited Manhattan and five other cases in New York City and on Long Island, should not be reason for panic and new mandates.

"I’m not prepared to shut down schools or the economy at this time. That is not a necessary response. That would be considered an overreaction," she stressed.

She pointed out that 91% of adults in New York now have at least one vaccine dose. That's compared to the early months of the pandemic in 2020 when the vaccine wasn't available and the state saw as many as 800 COVID deaths a day; 45 people died of COVID on Wednesday, state records showed.

"I will not cause a panic among the people of this state, who have already been through so much, or being an alarmist. I’m a realist," Hochul continued. "I will always deal with the facts in front of me."

Hochul noted that she continues to take statewide action, such as last week requiring hospitals with dwindling bed capacity to suspend elective surgeries.

But for now, any COVID mask mandates or other measures may fall to county leaders, who are urging the public to support them if they take additional steps to control the virus' spread.

"Our chief elected officials must make decisions in real time based on the most up-to-date data, and these decisions can be unpopular but they are necessary to protect our communities," Stephen Acquario, the executive director of the state Association of Counties, cautioned in a statement Nov. 26.

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Joseph Spector is the Government and Politics Editor for the USA TODAY Network's Atlantic Group, overseeing coverage in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware. He can be reached at JSPECTOR@Gannett.com or followed on Twitter: @GannettAlbany

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This article originally appeared on New York State Team: Why Gov. Kathy Hochul says she has no new COVID mandates planned