NYC will require masks in classrooms at start of school year

NEW YORK - New York City public school students will need to wear masks in the classroom when they return to school in the fall.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said parents and kids should plan on keeping faces covered to protect against COVID-19 even though the infection rates inside school buildings remain low.

"For now, we are sticking with the idea that wearing the masks is a smart thing to do," he said.  

The mayor's call to keep masks goes against the most recent CDC guidance. Last week, the CDC said students who are fully vaccinated can go without masks in the classroom.

Dr. Cathy Ward, a pediatrician in New York City, told  FOX 5 NY that the mayor should reconsider his position mandating masks in the classroom.

"My concern as a pediatrician, it's going to make them more susceptible to other germs because they're touching a lot, they might get wet from their own saliva if they cough or sneeze into it," Ward said. "We're interfering with their social connections. I think it's enhancing children's anxiety because there's a lot to say for facial interaction, facial recognition."

The mayor said his administration could change the requirement closer to the start of the school year.

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