‘They Adapt Better Than Adults Do’: NY Gov Hochul Defends Mask Mandates For Kids | Eastern NC Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the The Daily Wire. The author of this post is Hank Berrien.

    Speaking of the mask mandates that have been imposed on children in her state, New York Democrat governor Kathy Hochul opined, "My daughter had a meltdown about having to put sneakers on to go to kindergarten. She got used to wearing sneakers in school. They adapt better than adults do."

    A reporter asked Hochul, "Regarding the mask mandates: I want to know if the state has a particular number, whether it be a test of positivity rate or a hospitalization rate that when you go under the mask mandates would be lifted or is the state playing that by ear?

    "We're not paying it by ear; we're going to be driven by data," Hochul insisted. "And look at what our situation was prior to the mandates and assess was that the right number to go back to. I can't say with certainty but that is a starting pit to look at the number before we instituted these. We instituted these because we saw the storm coming our way. We watched the global trends; we saw how quickly this escalated in our countries, like England and South Africa and we knew that could hit us."

    "That's why we took steps literally the day the first case arrived in New York state which was December 2 and announced the first series of restrictions going up for the next couple of weeks," she continued. "So I think about this a lot; I'm not going to operate in a vacuum; we're going to have data and experts and people who know a lot about what the next trends are, but I am really looking forward to lifting them; I truly am."

    Then she offered her opinion about children and masks: "I know people are tired, but I also want to say one thing about the kids: My daughter had a meltdown about having to put sneakers on to go to kindergarten. She got used to wearing sneakers in school. They adapt better than adults do."

    "And I'm really proud of the parents who made sure that their kids understood this is for their safety and got it done," she added.

    She concluded, "But we're looking forward to the day we can lift the school as well as the business requirements. I truly am. That'll be a fabulous day. That means that we've turned the corner in a way that we don't feel we're going to be sliding backwards any time soon."

    Reuters reported last August:

    Incoming New York Governor Kathy Hochul said on Sunday that she supported mask mandates for children in school as a necessary safety step for helping New York get through a new wave of COVID-19 infections. Hochul, speaking in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union" program, said masks for kids in schools was "something that I believe has to occur" for the safety of children, teachers, school administrators, and the wider community.

    Last September, announcing a series of universal mask requirements, Hochul stated:

    For children under 12 who are not yet eligible to be vaccinated, masks are the best line of defense against COVID-19 infection. This new mask requirement ensures that children in our child care facilities receive the same protection as children in our schools.

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