Governor Cuomo Announces Elimination of State-Mandated COVID Restrictions for New York

New York State-mandated COVID restrictions have been eliminated Tuesday, as announced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

After achieving his 70 percent adult partial vaccination milestone, Cuomo shared the news 472 days after his first COVID presser, this time at the World Trade Center. Now, as Cuomo puts it, New Yorkers have the chance to “return to life as we know it,” with Tuesday fireworks happening throughout the state.

With the new guidelines, there will no longer be social distancing or gathering limits for several different settings, including office settings, malls, sporting events, gyms, movie theaters and other places. There will also be no more capacity restrictions, health screenings or contact tracing protocols.

Despite state executive orders being thrown out, individual places and businesses can still impose strict guidelines for customers. Still, pre-K-12 schools, public transit and healthcare settings still require masks, according to CDC guidelines.

“This is a momentous day – and we deserve it, because it has been a long, long road,” Cuomo said. “It’s a day to look backward and remember where we were, but also a day to look forward to where we’re going… If you said to us on Day 1, at the beginning of COVID, that we would be capable of what we have done, no one would believe it. Where are we today? We have the lowest COVID positivity rate in the United States of America.”