STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Why the panic?
That’s what I’m wondering after hearing Gov. Kathy Hochul talk about the possibility of enforcing strict mask mandates again in New York.
Is Hochul trying to out-tyrant her disgraced predecessor, Gov. Andrew Cuomo?
At a press conference the other day, Hochul said she was taking a “wait and see” approach to any new mask mandates.
She did acknowledge that she couldn’t issue a Cuomo-like mandate, because those emergency pandemic powers were stripped from the governor’s office months ago by the Legislature.
But that might not stop Hochul.
“However, I can, I could find ways to make a more strict mask mandate,” Hochul said.
Maybe she’ll ask God how to do it. After all, this is the same governor who told church worshipers the other week that the Almighty wanted them to get vaccinated.
Hochul has meanwhile mandated that all workers in the state mental health system get vaccinated or face losing their jobs.
All this even though New York’s COVID numbers have vastly improved since our bout with the delta variant. And even though wearing a mask is no guarantee against getting or spreading the virus. And even though vaccine efficacy fades over time.
But health care heroes? They lost their jobs for not getting the jab.
The state’s rolling 7-day test positivity average stood at 2.45 percent, the governor’s office reported Friday. The numbers have ticked up and down in recent days, but have not shot back up to pandemic numbers.
New York City’s number was at 1.36 percent, up a bit from previous days, but still a very positive number. Staten Island was at 1.50 percent.
The trends are positive.
Mayor Bill de Blasio is another pol who can’t let go of his COVID pandemic powers, saying the other day that he’s looking to mandate vaccines for cops, firefighters and other city workers.
This even though 61 percent of city residents are fully vaccinated, with another 67 percent having gotten at least one shot. Add in those who have natural immunity from recovering from COVID and the picture isn’t all that gloomy.
Statewide, Hochul reported that 85 percent of adults in New York have gotten at least one dose of vaccine.
None of it justifies calls for draconian new mandates and threats.
The numbers are improving across the country as well, with former delta hotspots cooling off. Case numbers and hospitalizations are falling nationwide.
He said that while COVID-19 would continue to circulate among us, like the flu, it was unlikely to reach pandemic levels again, thanks to vaccinations and natural immunity.
But still we’re seeing this drive for 100 percent vaccination compliance. We’re hearing the threats of new mandates.
We have insurance companies saying they will charge higher rates to the unvaccinated. Transplant clinics are telling patients that won’t get needed organs or will be moved lower on the wait list if they’re not vaccinated.
And we still have Pfizer pushing to vaccinate kids 5 to 11 years old. We are still seeing mask mandates for kids in schools. Even though it’s been shown that kids are not at great risk from the virus.
We had Dr. Anthony Fauci saying that families couldn’t gather for Christmas this year. You saw how quickly the good doctor walked that one back.
Stop with the overheated talk. The science and the numbers don’t support it. Manage the virus. Don’t blow it out of proportion.