Sunday night, the New York Police Department sent an email that ordered all cops in the city to wear face coverings. Earlier last year, during a surge, the department had enforced a strict mask mandate. Later, the policy was relaxed and the focus was on getting unvaccinated cops to take the shots. Now, a strict mask policy is back, where all the police have to wear masks at all times.

According to a report in the New York post the memo said that “all members of the service, regardless of vaccine status” who were medically able to tolerate a face-covering were required to wear a face covering that would cover their nose and mouth at all times.

The memo also noted that they had to wear their mask at all times when they dealt with the public, while they were in schools and other locations. Cops also had to wear masks on public transit services as well at several other locations.

After the memo was released one police source said that “One Police Plaza” would not follow the memo. The cop was alluding to the headquarters of the New York Police Department which is situated at that location.

The omicron variant of the coronavirus has already spread across the city. Bars and restaurants remain closed due to shortages of staff as well as due to decreased patronage as people are sheltering in their homes. Radio City Christmas Spectacular’s Rockettes dance troupe has cancelled its show. Other Broadway shows have also been closed.

On Saturday, 21,908 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in New York state. This number is a little higher than yesterday’s which stood at 21,027. Both the days saw new daily records being set and Sunday saw a further rise of cases to 22, 478 in the state. The earlier record in New York state was 19,942 on January 14, as per a report by the Daily Mail.

Mayor of New York City till December 31, Bill de Blasio and governor of the state Kathy Hochul have currently spoken against lockdowns. They have asked those who are unvaccinated to get vaccinated at the earliest.

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