Hochul Warns About More COVID-19 Etiquettes If Numbers Don’t Drop.

On Tuesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul said, “New Yorkers in upstate communities seeing upticks in COVID-19 cases could again face more pandemic restrictions if infection rates fail to drop.”

The Democrat later tweeted a note of optimism: saying she’ll direct the state health commissioner to relax rules like masks in schools if New York gets “through the holidays without a spike.”

If we want to get to the point where we don't need masks — in schools especially — we need to get through the holidays without a spike.

If we do that, I will direct @HealthNYGov to look at ways to relax measures, including masks in schools.

— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) November 16, 2021

Hochul didn’t plan any special COVID-19 rules she could put back in place, or how she would define a decline or head in COVID-19 times.

But she said she’s troubled by vaccine holdouts and signs of rising COVID-19 cases in parts of western and central New York.

Hochul said, “At some point if the numbers don’t start on a downward trend, we’re going to have to talk about larger protocols. I truly hope the community at large will listen to this because it doesn’t have to be this way.”

According to the reports of the previous Monday, Hospitals across New York reported 2,051 patients with confirmed COVID-19, up 9% from 1,878.