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WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. Transcript of Governor Kathleen Hochul comments on National Public Radio this morning on Covid and schools. August 25, 2021:

Governor Hochul: Well my task right now is very immediate. I have to get COVID under control, protect the safety of New Yorkers, and I started with a mask mandate in schools effective immediately. Also, get more vaccinations out there and particularly if we’re looking at the booster shots there’s a lot of older people who feel very insecure and invulnerable because they would have had their first shots just about eight months ago, and that’s when I spoke with Dr. Fauci and the time he said people should be getting their next booster shot. So, I’ll be having a very aggressive program to get the boosters out. But there’s still a lot of people who never got their first dose, and that’s going to be a barrier to getting people feeling secure about going to schools and to work. So I’m laser focused on those two big initiatives.

 
Steve Inskeep: Do you feel that you’re taking office in a crisis that has nothing to do with Andrew Cuomo’s crisis? You were at 300 new cases per day in New York not long ago, and I think you’re now up to 5,000 new cases a day.

 
Governor Hochul: Yes, so it’s very concerning. There’s no doubt about it. I was in the trenches during the first months of last year’s pandemic. I was literally embedded with the local health officials and county executives in upstate New York, so I know how scary this is and what people went through and I have a different approach. We were successful last year, but also as we see this resurgence I’m going to be doing more to empower local government officials who spend all their days training for this, the local health departments, the emergency management individuals who know how to get vaccines out. So, in my opinion it does not have to be so top heavy, but we also need to engage our local partners. That’s something I’ve done all my life from my career in local office to county office to Congress and on up, so that’s natural for me but it’s going to be a different approach, but we’ll get to the same place where we eventually drive this down and protect people the process.

 
Steve Inskeep: Do you have some people who think that you are being top heavy by imposing a statewide mask mandate?

Governor Hochul: This is actually the results of an effort of outreach I did to school superintendents, school boards, teachers, all kinds of groups I assembled on a Zoom call a couple days before I took office. They told me they want this to happen, they just want to cover. They want to be able to go back to their parents at a school board meeting and say this is a state mandate, we had to follow it. So, because they did have that they were the ones that were that front of all the criticism and I have no trouble, problem at all, assuming that responsibly. I’m going do that. The vast majority of my conversations have been this is in the no brainer category as much as politically divisive in some other states. In the state of New York, yes, people criticize, I’ve already heard from them, but the vast majority of New Yorkers want to get through this as soon as possible.

And, number one, keep kids safe in schools. I mean, I’m a parent. This is a time of high anxiety for every mom and dad or anyone who sends kids to school, and I want to alleviate that by saying you know what, your child is going to be protected. We know masks work and then we’ll work on getting the vaccinations are and we’ll have done everything we possibly can to ensure that that environment is safe so kids can start learning again.

Steve Inskeep: Did you literally have school superintendent saying that to you? Force me to do this, twist my arm?

Governor Hochul: Oh yes. We had a conversation with leadership on a call and the leadership, I can’t say they speak for every single member, and I’ve represented the most conservative parts of New York as a member of congress, I know that there will be individuals who disagree with that. I’m balanced, we have to make a decision that affects New York State as a whole for now but also my flexibility is that I’m willing to release the restrictions based on what’s happening in different geographic areas. We’ll have a statewide mandate to start, however I’m going to monitor closely. I’m watching the data like a hawk all day long to see what’s happening. And if there’s an area that’s not really that affected, they’re coming out of it, they have good vaccination rates that we can allow them to lift them.

So, I’m not going to be a dictator about this. I’m going to be flexible.

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. From Governor Kathleen Hochul’s Press Office. August 25, 2021:

On her first day in office, Governor Kathy Hochul announced a new, comprehensive plan to help ensure a safe, productive return to schools this fall in the midst of rising COVID-19 numbers fueled by the Delta variant. 

As part of this plan, Governor Hochul has directed the New York State Department of Health to institute a universal mask requirement in all schools, public and private, as determined necessary at the discretion of the Commissioner. The Department of Health will issue the requirement through regulatory action established by the Public Health and Health Planning Council.

Governor Hochul will also pursue options to mandate vaccines for school employees or require weekly testing in the absence of vaccines, and will continue to work with the Department of Health, education stakeholders and the Legislature on establishing the mandate.

“As Governor, my priorities are now the priorities of the people of New York – and right now that means fighting the Delta variant,” Governor Hochul said. “My number one priority is getting children back to school and protecting the environment so they can learn safely. I am immediately directing the Department of Health to institute universal masking for anyone entering our schools, and we are launching a Back to School COVID-19 testing program to make testing for students and staff widely available and convenient. We are also working to require vaccinations for all school personnel with an option to test out weekly, and we are going to accomplish all of this by working in partnership with all levels of government.”

To help ensure testing is available to students as they return to school, Governor Hochul is using $335 million in federal funds to launch a new COVID-19 Testing in Schools Program in partnership with local health departments and BOCES in New York State outside of New York City. In addition, New York City has received $225 million directly to initiate a COVID-19 Testing in Schools Program there, for a total of $585 million in federal funding in New York State to support these programs.

Governor Hochul also launched an additional back-to-school COVID-19 testing program in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Rite Aid and BioReference to make testing more widely available for New York State public school students before the start of the 2021-2022 school year.

TESTING FOR STUDENTS PRIOR TO SCHOOL

Testing appointments will be available to New York students in grades K-12 at the 115 Rite Aid drive-through locations. Students are required to pre-register online and schedule a time slot for testing. Students aged 17 and under must have parental or legal guardian consent and be accompanied by a guardian at time of testing in the drive- through. Digital results will be delivered to parents for students to bring to school. COVID-19 testing is voluntary and will be provided at no cost to the student’s family nor to the school district.

In addition to these new testing programs, New York State has available more than 4.3 million child-sized clothed face masks, about 10 million adult-sized clothed face masks and almost 55 million non-surgical face masks to provide to students and teachers in schools across the state.

State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said, “Our highest priority is helping to ensure the health and safety of our students and educators as we work together to combat COVID-19. Since early July, COVID-19 cases in New York have risen 10-fold and 95 percent of sequenced positive cases were confirmed to be Delta variant. Based on incidence and prevalence, our findings demonstrate the necessity of layered prevention strategies, including this mask requirement. While a simple measure of prevention, requiring masks now is crucial for protecting the health of our children and ensuring we can get our students back in their schools this fall.”

Commissioner of Education Dr. Betty A. Rosa said, “Since the onset of the pandemic, the health and safety of our students, teachers, and school personnel has been our top priority. With the increase in COVID variant cases around the state, Governor Hochul’s action, taken after consultation with educators, demonstrates her commitment to the health and wellbeing of our students and the importance of keeping our schools open. The State Education Department supports a consistent application of masking requirements in schools, easing the return to school with a common line of defense against the spread of the COVID variant. I look forward to continuing our collaboration with Governor Hochul in support of our shared focus on expanded educational opportunity for all New Yorkers.”