Masked first responders are returning to New York City streets following the imposition of a mask mandate.
On Friday the New York City Fire Department imposed a mask mandate on all fire truck and ambulance personnel, according to the New York Post. A surgical mask, preferably an N95 mask, is required.
The previous mask mandate enacted during the pandemic ended in February 2022.
On Jan. 1, all 11 New York City public hospitals, as well as clinics and nursing homes run by NYC Health + Hospitals imposed a similar mandate.
“This is in line with the public hospital mandate to wear masks,” FDNY spokeswoman Amanda Farinacci said.
“We offer pre-hospital care. It would make sense to be consistent with what the hospitals where we are bringing our patients are doing,” she said.
Vincent Variale, president of the Uniformed EMS Officers union, noted that first responders “are in and out of hospitals all day and night.”
“It’s also good practice to wear a mask when dealing with patients who may have contagious diseases,” he said.
According to New York City data, over the past week, the city has had an average of 2,323 cases of COVID-19 per day, with an average of 119 hospitalizations and four deaths.
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Reuters noted that an increase in COVID-19, flu and respiratory illnesses has prompted a spike in mask mandates, noting that hospitals in New York, California, Illinois and Massachusetts have re-imposed mandates that lapsed with the end of the pandemic. Since then, Johns Hopkins has restored its mask mandate, according to WBAL-TV.
“We anticipate this requirement to be in effect on a short-term basis while viral respiratory illness rates are high,” Johns Hopkins said in a statement.
Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, the increase in COVID cases this winter is not a reason to panic, according to The New York Times.
“We’re not seeing the signs that would make me think that we’re heading into another severe wave. So far, we’re in relatively good shape,” she said.
we definitely bout to go into a mask mandate again. Some hospitals already did it
— Mecca-Amani (@keepupwithmani_) January 6, 2024
A new COVID variant, JN.1, is blamed for the increase.
The Times estimated that COVID kills about 1,200 people per week, which would be a third of what took place last year and an eighth of what was happening in 2021.
“We are in this pretty big infection surge right now, but what’s really interesting is how hugely hospitalizations have and continue to decouple from infections,” Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, a public health expert, said.
Overseas, Spain is imposing a mask mandate on all health care centers in response to spiking respiratory cases, according to Reuters.
