Stores are beginning to reinstate mandatory masking policies for everyone as the Covid positivity rate rises again, despite high vaccination rates on the Upper West Side. The Delta Variant poses exceptional risks given its high level of contagiousness, and the fact that children under 12 still aren’t eligible for vaccines.
After months of extremely low testing positivity rates, positivity rates are on the upswing again. In the 10023 zip code, the Covid positivity rate is at 3.7%, according to data from The City news site. The 10024 zip was at 2.1% and 10025 was at 2.3%.
Starting on August 16 — next Monday — restaurants and other establishments will be only open to those who have received at least one shot of a Covid vaccine.
Among the stores now requiring masks is Fairway at 74th and Broadway, and the FedEx on 72nd. Thanks to Keith for the photo.
The CDC just added both Iceland and Israel to the ‘don’t go unless absolutely necessary’ list, the highest warning standard.
These are the two MOST vaccinated countries in the world.
So it’s obvious that breakthrough infections are common with the delta variant.
Fortunately, the hoepitalization and death rates remain low.
I thought the mandatory vaccination for restaurant dining didn’t start until next month?
It starts next week but is not enforced until next month.
Good. Common sense prevails!
This is good news.
The need for the new mandate, I think, is well explained by Dr. Fauci at 5:41-7:11 of this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8074o4Ef8I
Enough of the ‘Please Wear A Mask’ nonsense. It’s well past time for ‘Masks Required For Entry’ signs. (And as of last night at least, there were still plenty of shoppers at Fairway not wearing masks.)
The City doesn’t seem to be investigating why there has been a spike and who those people are. We had such low rates before what changed. It isn’t just Delta alone.
Are they younger and/or unvaccinated people; Breakthrough infections of people who traveled, people who attended an event with many people many of whom were unmasked; people who were not working from home?
Without this information how can any government or the public decide the best way to contain further infections?
The City tracks positives by zip code.
You can see that daily at Gothamist.
This neighborhood continues to do well. An increase for sure but low by comparison to other neighborhoods.
Very good news. I hope this is enforced. Any honor system where people can say “I’ve been vaccinated” and then be allowed not to wear a mask is a joke.
Why do people need a mask if they’ve been vaccinated?
Why does anyone need a mask if others are vaccinated?
People get vaccinated for the flu, Shingles, Measles, Polio, Hep A & B, etc. which are all highly contagious. Have these people worn a mask before or after?
IF you followed the science you would understand that vaccinated people can be infected and more importantly can spread the virus to other vaccinated or worse, unvaccinated adults and children. That’s why we all need to wear masks. The vaccination prevents serious illness but not spreading infection.
@Richard: The difference between the diseases you name and COVID is that everyone is eligible for vaccines against the former group and vaccination is mandatory to enter school. The other thing to remember is that this virus is most contagious when you don’t even know you have it and the viral load in the upper airway with this delta variant is 1000 times what it was for the alpha variant (the original) when you are most contagious. That in part explains why it is more transmissible.
We mask to protect our kids and our more vulnerable neighbors because we live in a crowded city and that’s what it means to be a good citizen. We will never be rid of this virus if we don’t all do our part. Lastly, if we don’t get on top of this virus, the next variant may very well evade vaccine-induced immunity and then I for one will regret that some of my fellow UWSiders didn’t cooperate with the very small act of wearing a mask.
(a) Diseases are transmitted differently. That’s one of the reasons there was so much back and forth at the beginning about whether masks actually help or not.
(b) If you don’t understand why being an individual who is vaccinated is not enough to protect you from others, just go google it. There is plenty of information out there about why we need everyone vaccinated AND masks.
(c) Seriously – it’s time to be an adult about this.
Richard: I can’t address all the ignorance exhibited by your statement. I’ll just comment on one item, Hepatitis B is spread by direct blood-to-blood contact. That’s one reason people don’t wear masks to prevent it.
Given all the information from reliable sources thses “why are” questions seem a bit disingenuous.
As of today, the facts appear to be that this vairant is far more transmissible than the illnesses you mention, and that breakthrough exposures are fairly common (most may not lead to actual illness, but you can still transmit the virus if it’s in your respratory system).
Given those facts and the TENFOLD increase in positives in only seven weeks, from June 25 to today,
Why wouldn’t you wear a mask?
This is like asking why people need to drive the speed limit if they’re wearing a seatbelt, or why people need to drive sober if they’re driving the speed limit. Risk is a scale, not a binary, and though the vaccines are incredible at preventing infection, they are not perfect.
@Richard,
1.5 years later, is it still unclear (?) that we wear masks to protect others also. There are many people who are still not vaccinated for whatever reason. Asymptomatic transmission is the superpower of this virus that stomped us. “Healthy” people can still throw the virus around, especially indoors. It is possible that frontline workers (even if vaccinated) can then bring it home to their children or parents and this will not end until everyone comes in contact with it at least once. And ~ 1% will die.
You may say I don’t care about the anti-vaccers, children?, Immuno-compromised, and pets (UWs’er love their pets) .
I wouldn’t want to be a part of the chain that gets my worst enemy (or their children) sick, knowingly or unknowingly. Even if self interest is my only directive, I don’t want the next variant to start in my germ factory.
Btw, check ICU beds availability in FL and Tx. Freedom vs Safety.
The healthcare workers everywhere are at their wits’ end.
People need to wear a mask to counter those who have NOT been vaccinated, and that’s a large percentage.
I am a little confused as to where this updated mandate is coming from?
The Mayor has explicitly said he is focusing on other “efforts.” The Governor is otherwise occupied.
What city authority is making these unenforceable decisions?
Richard, it would appear to be coming from the stores themselves.
It isn’t the government – private businesses are making the decision, as is their right.
“Starting on August 16 — next Monday — restaurants and other establishments will be only open to those who have received at least one shot of a Covid vaccine.”
The discussion here is mask mandates, not vaccination mandates. This article is about masks being required in local stores.
The third paragraph states “ Starting on August 16 — next Monday — restaurants and other establishments will be only open to those who have received at least one shot of a Covid vaccine.”
So vaccines ARE a part of this conversation.
My comment is a direct quote from the article (Thus the quotation marks.).
Richard was inquiring about the City’s decisions.
You decided that this is off-topic, but it is not. The article discusses vaccination policies for restaurant entry.
I commented because the same stores that weren’t requiring masks a week ago have now started requiring them. This was the point of the article.
Why are stores re-instating the masks? What has changed? The Mayor still has not instituted another mask mandate. The Governor is otherwise occupied.
Are store owners talking amongst themselves en masse? Have they received a directive from another source?
Wouldn’t it be nice to know who is speaking on behalf of the people?
Are they an elected official?
Richard, in the same way that you can require anyone coming into your home to remove their shoes, shopkeepers can require people entering their store to wear a mask amid a worldwide pandemic.
“Why are stores re-instating the masks? What has changed?”
7 day average number of cases, NYC, July 10: 380
7 day average number of cases, NYC, August 10: 1,700.
What more do you need?
Oh, that’s number of cases per day.
I have exhausted all my patience and compassion for all those who end up dying because they refused to get vaccinated.
We’re still in this mess because of the ignorant, stupid and reckless among us.
Enough of this talk about “freedom” when it enslaves the rest of us who are doing the right thing.
Well said! I’m out of compassion for the willfully ignorant too.
Exactly! And actually, Government may restrict freedom, but it cannot restrict rights. In exercising freedom, one may do whatever one wishes,— ****as long as those actions do not interfere with the rights of another****— … Law provides the stability for society to function, balancing the expression of freedoms with the safeguarding of rights.
People need to know the difference!
Shops have a right to impose a mask mandate and I have a right to take my business elsewhere. I will go back to FreshDirect and Amazon Fresh if Fairway doesn’t want my business. I’m vaccinated and the risk of serious illness is virtually nil and risk of transmission to others statistically zero. I’m done.
And I say if you don’t want to wear a mask , I would be thrilled if you would stay in your home.
Yay, you’re done! Show’em who’s boss! Big bad Fairway making our lives so difficult…
Actually the risk of transmission has already been proven to be virtually the opposite of zero so…
And yeah these are businesses’ choices, who largely have been following the CDC. That’s why they let us be unmasked for a while and now have resumed masking rules. Following the CDC. It’s not that hard to follow basic news on this.
And for everything anyone doesn’t know, remember that the science is constantly evolving on this and deal with it. How many times do you have to be told? And if you’re an adult none of this is news. This isn’t our first epidemic/pandemic, but it is a new virus where all the data is brand new on the finest details beyond the fact that we know it’s incredibly dangerous and transmissible, end of story.
DJR: Please don’t make up “statistics” which have no basis in fact. The reason for the change in policy is that “a new study shows the Delta Covid-19 variant produced similar amounts of virus in vaccinated and unvaccinated people if they get infected … data suggests they could have a similar tendency to spread it as unvaccinated folks.”
Quoted from:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/30/health/breakthrough-infection-masks-cdc-provincetown-study/index.html
DJR…it’s been established those vaxxed can still spread it. What’s the problem with masking for the 20.minutes you are in a store. when I performed surgery in a 30 year career we were all masked for hours. we didn’t lose a a brain cell in the process
This behavior never made any sense to me, until I saw this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09maaUaRT4M
Government has failed us in this pandemic. I’m glad to see private businesses instituting mask and vaccination requirements. I’m fully vaccinated, but there are many children in my building younger than 12. I don’t even want to take the chance that I could contribute to anyone else becoming sick, especially if I know that’s a possibility and that there is something I can do to prevent that from happening. I’m really weary and angry with people who refuse to consider the health and lives of others simply because they believe it’s their right to do say no. It is absolutely your right, but why would you? Why? I don’t get it, it’s just wrong.
masks should be mandatory in stores – at least to
protect employees who are there many hours. kids are not vaccinated and can transmit the virus. vaccine companies never claimed people couldn’t get sick, but would protect against serious illness. the lambda variant is in the usa and it isn’t known how effective (if at all) the vaccines are. why not be prepared better than last time?
Do we really have UWSiders who don’t understand the science? It’s very disappointing to read some of these comments and people who don’t want to wear a mask to keep the vulnerable safe.
Unfortunately, none of the COVID vaccines are sterilizing and therefore vaccinated people are spreading the virus, even if they show no symptoms of the disease.
The only “ignorant, stupid and reckless among us” are those vaccinated people acting as if the pandemic was a thing of the past. It took the 1918 flu two years to resolve, without vaccines and with limited hygiene practices. The big difference between then and now is that we now live in a society of infantile adults that tend to throw a tantrum when they don’t get their way.
Let’s be humble and surrender to the fact that this virus has turned our lives upside down. We may have to wear masks, social distance and change our habits for a little longer and that is OK. After the darkest night the most beautiful day is born