Assemblyman Chris Tague (R,C,I-Schoharie) is urging Gov. Hochul to put New York state on a path to normalcy by ending her mask mandate in schools and public spaces, following announcements by leaders in states such as New Jersey and Delaware that their mask mandates will be ending in the weeks to come.

As of Feb. 8, new COVID-19 infections have declined by over 96% from the Jan. 7 peak of the omicron wave. Tague has remained opposed to mask mandates throughout the pandemic and has put forward legislation (A.8101) to prohibit state agencies from mandating the mask of healthy and asymptomatic children in schools and similar settings.

“Whether or not an individual wears a mask in any setting should be up to only themselves or their parents,” said Tague. “While I’ve been opposed to universal mask mandates since they were introduced, if there was ever a time for them to end, that time is now. The number of new COVID cases has cratered rapidly over the last few weeks.

“With that said, we need this mandate to come to an end for all of us, but especially our children. They’ve had their educational and social development stifled because of this mandate for far too long, and our state stubbornly retaining it, even as neighboring states with Majority leaders scrap theirs, is entirely senseless. The negative effects of the pandemic have dragged on for far too long, and the pain we’ve felt in our communities has only been prolonged by these ill-conceived edicts.”