Appellate Court Judge Robert Miller issued a stay of a lower court ruling striking down New York's mask mandate — essentially leaving in place the rule for New Yorkers to wear mask in all indoor settings.
A hearing on the appeal filed by Attorney General Letitia James has been scheduled for Friday.
Attorneys for the state and a group of plantiffs held a 30-minute hearing on Tuesday afternoon.
"This suit is not about how the pandemic has been handled," said attorney Chad Laveglia, who is representing the plantiffs in the case. "It's not about masks or science whatsoever. It's about how the governor and the Department of Health made laws it didn't have the authority to make."
But Assistant Attorney General Judith Vale argued the state Department of Health has the power to put regulations in place to ensure public health during a pandemic.
Suspending the indoor mask mandate would “radically disrupt the status quo” in the state, she said.
A lower court on Monday struck down the state's mask mandate, siding with the argument the state Department of Health and Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration lacked the authority to put the mask rule in effect. State Supreme Court Judge Thomas Rademaker ruled state lawmakers could still act to empower the governor to put a mask rule in place for indoors.
"We disagree 100% with the conclusion of the judge who in his opinion thought the Department of Health does not have the authority to protect public health," Hochul said Tuesday afternoon during an event in Syracuse. "We believe this will be settled very shortly."
For now, state lawmakers have said they will wait to see the outcome of the case before committing to mask legislation.
The State Education Department earlier on Tuesday announced its rule for masking wearing inside schools would remain in effect, citing the expectation the initial ruling would be stayed as the state's appeal was heard. Education officials have pointed to a previous court ruling that upheld the indoor mask mandate. After Miller's stay order, Education Commissioner Betty Rosa said the department was pleased with the order.
"As such, the mask mandate remains in effect for schools across the state," Rosa said in a statement. "We support Governor Hochul and the state Department of Health as they continue with the appeal. We thank the members of our school communities for their patience during this process."
New York's indoor mask requirement was set to expire on Feb. 1. Hochul put the mask rule in place in December as the highly contagious omicron variant was spreading through the state, leading to a spike in cases and hospitalizations.
State Health Commissioner Mary Bassett in a statement shared with education officials on Tuesday backed continued masking schools.
"People in schools who are unmasked are ineligible for test-to-stay and face stricter quarantine standards," she said. "These novel programs were put in place because strict adherence to mitigation measures like masking have helped make schools safer places compared to most general community settings that lack such measures. Any removal of these mitigation measures increases the potential for viral spread, leading to widespread quarantine and possibly forcing school closures."