County won’t enforce state mask mandate

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Photo courtesy of washingtoncountyny.gov. The Washington County, New York logo.

Washington County Board of Supervisors chairman Samuel Hall announced on Dec. 14 that Washington County will not enforce the statewide mask or vaccination requirement in indoor public locations that was put in effect by Gov. Kathy Hochul on Dec. 13.

Washington County joins Rensselaer, Saratoga and Warren Counties in publicly stating they will not enforce the mask or vaccination update.

Said Hall: “As chairman of the Board of Supervisors, I know first-hand all of our Washington County, New York Public Health Department resources are currently committed in the response to COVID-19 relative to case investigations and vaccinations (and the many other Public Health functions they perform for our communities).

“Our Public Health team does not have the resources or personnel to re-allocate from their critical duties they are currently tasked with to conduct enforcement actions relative to the state’s newly issued requirements.”

Hochul’s announcement on Dec. 10 declared all indoor public places to require the use of a mask or proof of vaccination upon entry from Dec. 13 to Jan. 15, with state officials deciding after the month-long mandate if it should be extended or ended.

Hochul said the decision stemmed from “the state’s weekly seven-day case rate as well as increasing hospitalizations.”

“As Governor,” she said, “my two top priorities are to protect the health of New Yorkers and to protect the health of our economy. The temporary measures I am taking today will help accomplish this through the holiday season.

“We shouldn’t have reached the point where we are confronted with a winter surge, especially with the vaccine at our disposal, and I share many New Yorkers’ frustration that we are not past this pandemic yet.

“I want to thank the more than 80% of adult New Yorkers who have done the right thing to get fully vaccinated. If others will follow suit, these measures will no longer be necessary.”

45th District State Senator Dan Stec criticized the governor’s mandate as an “overstep.”

“Whether it’s vaccines, testing or personal protective equipment, what the State of New York should be doing is making sure all of it is widely available and easily accessible. Requiring that counties and businesses function as enforcement agencies is an overstep,” Stec said. “There’s no legislative oversight in any of this. Our system of ‘checks and balances’ is being bypassed.”

NYVT Media spoke with 114th District Assemblyman Matt Simpson via phone on Dec. 14 when Simpson was trying to hail a cab in New York City.

“I was never contacted by Gov. Hochul’s office about the mask/vaccination mandate,” Simpson said.

Simpson heard of Washington County’s decision not to enforce the mandate while in the city and understands the county’s stance due to what the county has for personnel and resources from the state and within the county.

“It comes down to resources,” Simpson said. “They can only do what they can do. The vaccinations are the higher priority and hopefully people can follow the advice of the governor.”

Hall’s statement concluded by promoting safety of self and each other during the trying times.

“We encourage everyone in our communities to be responsible, courteous, and understanding to our business owners and community organizations relative to the state requirement, they are doing as directed and taking measures to keep our businesses and organizations operating and open to the public in as safe and healthy a manner as possible,” Hall’s statement said.

The Washington County Department of Public Safety announced on Dec. 20 that there are 292 active Covid-19 cases in the county, 106 of them being newly confirmed and 7,774 total confirmed cases since the pandemic began in March 2020.

Sixty-seven individuals have died in the county due to Covid-related symptoms since March of 2020 and there are currently 12 individuals hospitalized due to Covid-related symptoms.

The number of people that have recovered from the coronavirus is 7,415, while 39,838 people (or 65.1% of the population) have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

As of Dec. 18, the New York State Department of Health recorded 252 total hospitalizations and 48 patients in the ICU in the Capital Region and 97 hospitalizations and 19 patients in the ICU in the North Country over the last three months.