COVID Mask Mandates Are Returning To North Carolina
According to Fox News, a large number of healthcare facilities reinstituting COVID mask mandates across the country. New York City public hospitals just joined the growing list.
The NYC Health + Hospitals system has many different health facilities that are now under an indoor mask mandate. These locations include 30 different health centers, 11 hospitals, and five long-term care facilities.
The new mandates are being put in place as a response to COVID-19 cases and influenza respiratory infections rising. This current increase is basically nothing compared to the spikes seen while the pandemic was active.
The seven-day average of COVID cases in NYC as of Jan. 1, 2024, was 2,131, this is a slight increase when compared to the past few weeks. However, it is nothing compared to other numbers in the past two years. On Jan. 1, 2022, the seven-day average was 41,910, which is almost twenty times higher than current numbers. According to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, influenza has had a 3% increase in positive cases recently. RSV cases have dropped recently by 18%.
Although the mask mandates do help everyday citizens, they are mainly in place to help healthcare workers working in these facilities on a day-to-day basis. So, what does this mean for North Carolina? Guess only time will tell how far the mask mandates may go.
New York hospital systems aren’t the only ones that have instituted mask mandates. At least six other states have as well, including North Carolina, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Washington and Wisconsin. After many people seemed to have been sick over the last month or so, I can certainly see why these mandates are returning back in action. They are not just for COVID, but overall health protection for everyone. What do you think of wearing masks more frequently when under the weather and out in public? Many other countries are already participating in this even before the COVID-19 pandemic.