Gov. Cuomo: State Mandated Covid Restrictions Lifted

ALBANY — On Tuesday June 15, Day 472 since the state began counting COVID-19 infections, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the state was lifting state-mandated pandemic restrictions “effective immediately.” 

New York State which once counted the highest infection rate in the nation, is today the lowest, the governor said during his presser Tuesday: “We had people dying of COVID before we had even known COVID was here,” Cuomo said. “(Today) New Yorkers have accomplished what seemed impossible on Day 1.” 

As a state, New York this week achieved a 70% vaccination rate of the 18-and-over population having at least one shot. Overall, that counts as just over 55% of the population having at least one shot and approximately half the state’s population of about 19 million residents having completed the vaccine series.   

The highest vaccinated region is Long Island – which counts 75.3% over-18 residents as having had at least one shot. The greater Capital Region had the second highest at 74.4%. The lowest rates of vaccination are in the North Country and Mohawk Valley regions – at 63.9% and 60.6%, respectively. 

The lifted state-mandated restrictions apply to both commercial and social settings – such as malls, movie theaters, offices, sports and arts and entertainment activities, and specifies lifted restrictions on previously mandated social gathering, social distancing and capacity limits, as well as cleaning protocols and securing contact information for tracing purposes. 

As per the CDC, mask requirements remain in effect for pre-k-12 schools, public transport, and healthcare screenings.