Eric Adams FINALLY drops toddler mask mandate in NYC

On Thursday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced via Twitter that he's will be lifting the mask mandate for children ages 2 to 4 early next week.

The move comes after months of NYC parents demanding that the mayor drop the mandate, saying it was "dystopian" and "depressing."

"Throughout the current wave," the mayor said, "schools have remained the safest places for our children and beginning Monday, June 13, we will make masks optional for 2-4 year old children in all early childhood settings." Those locations include schools and daycare centers.

Adams noted that "we have followed the data, which shows that cases are steadily falling, we‘ve beaten back the latest COVID-19 surge."

NYC Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said on Twitter, "after a two-month sustained increase of #COVID19 transmission, we are finally past the peak of this wave. Cases have fallen since May 23, giving us confidence that we have passed the peak and we are heading into a safer environment."

This isn't the first time Adams has set a date for the mandate to be lifted. In March, he promised to lift the mandate on April 4th, but retracted the deadline citing an increase of cases due to Omicron.

In May, numerous parents signed an open letter demanding that toddlers no longer be required to wear masks, with this youngest demographic being the last required to wear masks in the city, as parents are able to go out without one.

At the end of his statement today, Adams said, "we still strongly recommend that New Yorkers of all ages continue to wear masks indoors and we will continue to make masks available for any child or school staff member who wishes to continue wearing them."

Since the beginning of the pandemic, children of the youngest ages have maintained the lowest infection rates among all demographics.