Washington, D.C- Congresswoman Elise Stefanik joins Rep. Brandon Williams (NY-22) in a letter to New York Governor Kathy Hochul regarding reports that New York hospitals will reintroduce a mandatory mask mandate.
New York’s authoritarian COVID-19 policies had devastating effects, from the unnecessary deaths of over 15,000 New York seniors due to former Governor Cuomo’s nursing home order to impacting children’s development with unprecedented school closures. The letter urges Hochul to consider the risks, costs, and efficacy of any new statewide mask mandate and to evaluate the impact of government healthcare mandates implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020-2023.
The letter states, “The COVID-19 pandemic and government-mandated lockdown took us away from our loved ones, stopped learning, and closed businesses. The failure of our state to acknowledge and measure the lost learning and educational impact because of virtual classrooms, mask requirements to go to school in-person, and the practice of social distancing will result in our state losing its competitive edge in public schools. Thomas Kane, the faculty director of the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard, said that “learning loss will be the longest-lasting and most inequitable legacy of the pandemic.” We could not agree more. Our children deserve better.”
The letter continues emphasizing, “the profound grief over New York’s handling of nursing home care during the pandemic. Several audits completed by the New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli discovered that the New York State Department of Health underreported the full death toll by as much as 50 percent from April 2020 to February 2021. Our senior citizens deserve a care system that protects them in their time of need. We urge your administration to measure, document, and report to the public the flaws that were made during the pandemic related to nursing home care."
“Draconian mandates left an irreversible impact on Upstate New York devastating seniors, children, small businesses, schools, hospitals, and communities and cannot be repeated,” stated Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. “Kathy Hochul and the Far Left Albany Democrats cannot be allowed to use COVID-19 as cover to impose power-grabbing policies and exercise unprecedented government overreach. I will do everything in my power to ensure that mask mandates do not return to the state of New York.”
“As the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted working families across New York, leaders in Albany failed our local communities. By resorting to broad, draconian lockdowns, and ignoring the needs of New Yorkers, Governor Hochul subjected vulnerable populations to isolation, including our children and senior citizens,” stated Congressman Brandon Williams. “While not forgetting the irreparable damage done, moving forward, Governor Hochul must acknowledge the mistakes of the past and commit to evidence-based healthcare policies that do not restrict the rights and livelihoods of New Yorkers.”
Find the full letter HERE.
