The top Democratic lawmaker in the New York state Senate on Tuesday indicated she would not oppose Gov. Kathy Hochul moving to impose a mask requirement for schools in New York as the delta variant of COVID-19 has led to a spike in cases this summer. 

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins in a news conference said she would be “okay with doing what has to be done expeditiously” on masks for schools. 

Hochul, who was sworn in as New York's 57th governor earlier in the day, has previously said she would be supportive of a mask mandate for schools when they reopen, regardless of a person's vaccination status. 

Hochul does not have the same emergency powers former Gov. Andrew Cuomo had exercised until June to oversee the pandemic and impose efforts to mitigate spread of the virus. Instead, the new governor may be able to put a mandate in place through the state Department of Health. 

Schools in New York are yet to be given specific guidance for reopening from the Department of Health, which has instructed districts to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. The state Education Department earlier this month released a guidance plan that largely embraced CDC rules, which includes indoor mask wearing.