Hochul: New York rolling back COVID rules for schools, expanding monkeypox vaccinations

ALBANY — New York is easing COVID rules for students ahead of the start of the school year, updating guidelines to align with federal rules on masking, testing and quarantining.

Students no longer have to isolate if exposed to someone with the virus and a single COVID case will not result in entire classrooms being sent home, Gov. Hochul announced on Monday.

“There was concern in classroom but we now have two years of experience,” the governor said during a briefing in Manhattan. “We know kids are safe in classroom and when traditional learning stops it can be devastating for the well being of those children.”

There will be no mask mandate, although Hochul kept the idea alive a few weeks ago when discussing potential tools to combat a surge of infections in the fall.

The new rules closely follow recently revamped guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released last week that loosened recommendations regarding social distancing and the length of quarantines.

City education officials’ announced last week that in-school testing for the virus and daily health screens won’t be required this fall.

The state is also ending “test to stay,” which means students and teachers can stay in school even if they’ve been exposed to someone COVID-positive as long as they wear a mask.

“If a student or teacher is exposed, has a close contact who’s exposed, and they don’t have symptoms, they no longer have to go home, they will stay in school,” Hochul said.

Children and teachers who test positive for the virus should stay home for five days and can return with a mask once their symptoms subside.

The CDC still encourages testing for people with symptoms and their close contacts. Officials also says people who test positive should stay home for at least five days and wear a mask around others for 10 days.

New York will distribute COVID testing kits to schools as planned to begin the academic year, the governor added.

Schools can still require coronavirus testing for “close contact” activities such as sports or choir groups, Hochul said.

“We’ll leave that up to individual schools to make that determination, but it is no longer recommended from the CDC or the Department of Health that there be this random screening either,” she said.

Letters will be sent to school districts later Monday detailing the full guidelines from Department of Health officials.

The changes come as the state is also facing concerns about the spread of both polio and monkeypox.

State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett said New York is changing the way it administers monkeypox vaccines as cases surged to nearly 2,800 statewide. The new method will lower the dosage in an effort to immunize more people despite a dearth of vaccines from the federal government.

Bassett also said the state will be releasing more data related to vaccination efforts against monkeypox and noted that there is concern about equity among minority populations and Black men in particular.