Nassau County Executive Signs Order Rejecting State Mask Mandate

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman signed three executive orders on Thursday that would allow schools boards to decide if students should wear masks, in defiance of Governor Kathy Hochul.

The newly elected Republican has ordered Nassau County agencies to cease enforcement of the state’s mask mandates.

On December 10, 2021, Hochul issued an executive order that masks be required in all indoor public places unless businesses or venues implement a vaccine requirement. Thirteen counties have refused to endorse the mandate.

The Nassau boards of education will vote if students and parents will be required to mask while in the classroom, and public employees will not be required to wear masks indoors.

In an interview with Hamodia, Blakeman said, “We’ve heard from a lot of parents that they don’t want their children to wear masks in school. They find that the children are very uncomfortable, that it creates anxiety in their children, and their children feel like we are in an environment that’s not normal, and that they would like their children to go to school without a mask.”

He continued, “We’ve consulted with health care professionals. The ones that we’ve talked to say that it’s [indoor masking] not something that is critical to fighting COVID-19, that it’s just an additional measure, and that the important things are the testing, and the vaccinations.”

As measures to fight the coronavirus, Blakeman announced Nassau County would giving out 160,000 free tests over the weekend, as well as opening vaccine sites.