Mayor Adams urges NYers to mask up amid surge in COVID, flu, RSV

Here we go again.

Mayor Eric Adams is urging New Yorkers to mask up indoors amid a spike in coronavirus, flu and respiratory syncytial infection cases.

“When COVID-19 hit New York City almost three years ago, New Yorkers looked out for each other and followed the advice of our health experts,” Adams said Tuesday.

“With the holiday season in full swing and cases of COVID-19, flu, and RSV rising, we are asking New Yorkers to protect themselves and their loved ones once again. Mask up, get tested, get treated if you’re eligible, and, if you haven’t gotten your flu shot or your COVID-19 booster, we encourage you to roll up your sleeve.”

Staten Island Councilman Joe Borelli, a staunch opponent of mask mandates, said City Hall’s advisory is OK — to a point.

“You want to wear a mask? Fine. But I do not want to go back down the slippery slope of a mask mandate. There’s no appetite for it,” said Borelli, the council’s Republican Minority Leader.

“The COVID pandemic is well in my rearview mirror.”

He also noted those who are vaccinated should be in good stead.

The last mask mandate for the public transit system was lifted by Gov. Kathy Hochul in September, when widespread non-compliance followed COVID’s fade as a serious health issue. 

Adams lifted mask mandates in schools in March.

The mayor’s new mask-up message was reinforced by city health officials monitoring increases in cases of COVID, flu and RSV.

The push also comes as Hochul and the state Health Department reported 94 New Yorkers around the state died from COVID-19 over a three day reporting period — from Saturday through Monday. That’s more than 30 a day, a high number for a post-pandemic period.

Over the past month, the city’s seven-day average of confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 increased, as did cases of RSV, city health officials said. Data shows flu cases in the city this year are already higher than they were during the peak of the last four flu seasons.

The state Health Department reported the number of flu cases jumped by 19% for the week ending Dec. 10 compared with the prior week.

Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan recently issued a health advisory recommending city residents use high-quality masks when indoors and in crowded outdoor settings.

He said wearing masks — while not mandatory — was especially important for those who are themselves, or are meeting others, at an increased risk for complications from COVID, RSV or the flu — like people 65 and older or who are immunocompromised.

Public health experts said the city is taking the right approach by prodding New Yorkers to mask-up during the holidays.

“People may have been letting their guard down a bit a little too soon. The virus is still circulating. There could be consequences,” said Dr. Ayman El-Mohandes, dean of CUNY’s Graduate School of Public Health. 

“We need to learn our lesson. We don’t want people getting sick during the holidays.”

Health officials also urge staying up-to-date with vaccinations, getting tested if not feeling well and staying home when sick.

The city also announced flu and RSV testing, as well as Tamiflu prescriptions, are now available at 50 Health + Hospitals’ Test to Treat units.

And beginning this week, updated COVID-19 Pfizer vaccines will be available to children from six months to four years old at all of the city’s 11 public hospitals, officials said.

New Yorkers can present proof of a positive COVID test — including at-home results and those from an outside testing provider — at all mobile city units to be evaluated and set up for Paxlovid, the antiviral used to treat COVID.