Westchester County Mandates Masks For All Schools

WHITE PLAINS, NY — Faced with a rise in the number of cases of the new coronavirus, Westchester County Executive George Latimer said the county will be instituting mandates that will hopefully slow the spread of the disease.

During his regular weekly news briefing Monday, he said some of the recent statistics have become concerning.

There were more than 1,000 actives cases of the coronavirus reported Sunday. The last time the county saw that number was June 6, Latimer said.

On Friday, 58 people were reported to be hospitalized from COVID-19-related illnesses. It has been more than three months since the county had that many people in hospitals.

With a total of 1,469 fatalities to date, Westchester lost six individuals over the past week, which was the same number for the entire month of August, Latimer said.

He said the county doesn't have any significant information as to where the increases are coming from, but the thought is that people are taking masks off in social settings and there is push back from "pandemic fatigue" or ideological reasons for not wearing masks.

Latimer said that to try to slow the spread of the virus the county health department will mandate that masks be worn in all public and private schools in Westchester for in-person instruction.

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• Mandate Masks In Classrooms: NY Teachers Union

He said that under the order masks will also have to be worn on school buses, except if a student has a medical issue that prevents usage, and masks will be worn at all times, except for mask breaks, eating meals or during vigorous physical activity.

Latimer said the county will also be reducing its workforce to 50 percent occupancy by Monday, allowing people to work remotely where possible rather than report to an office.

"We are encouraging all local businesses to make a similar assessment," he said. "How much of their workforce can return to working remotely at this time?"

Latimer acknowledged that the recent outbreak of new coronavirus cases at Iona College was significant, but it doesn't account for the overall county-wide jump. He said it appeared to be caused by activities where a large number of students were together and didn't used masks or social distancing.

A host of other initiatives are being considered, Latimer said, but what was announced Monday was proportional to the current situation.

Here is the daily map of confirmed total and active cases of the new coronavirus broken down by municipality.

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