A Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) logo is displayed on the side of a subway train in Manhattan, New York on June 2, 2021.
Ed Jones | AFP | Getty Images
New Yorkers are no longer required to wear masks on mass transit, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Wednesday.
Hochul said the decision to lift the mandate is based on declining infections, hospitalizations and the availability of new boosters that the target the dominant omicron subvariant BA.5.
New York instituted mask mandates on public transit more than two years ago when the city was the epicenter of Covid in the U.S.
Many New Yorkers were ignoring the mandate anyways, with just 64% of subway riders complying with the requirement by April of this year.
Masks are still required in nursing homes and hospitals, Hochul said.
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