New York judge blocks statewide mask mandate - Reuters
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A New York judge struck down the state's mask mandate on Monday, ruling that Gov. Kathy Hochul and NY State Department of Health did not have the authority to enact such a mandate without approval from the State Legislature, source Reuters.

State Supreme Court Judge Thomas Rademaker said that the state legislature last year curbed any governor's ability to issue decrees, such as a mask mandate, amid a declared state of emergency.
Health Commissioner Mary Bassett's masking rules were issued after Gov. Hochul declared a state of emergency amid rising COVID-19 infections on Nov. 26.
Judge Rademaker wrote that the regulations needed to be âtailored, necessarily related, and attached to a law that the State Legislature has passed.â He struck down the regulations and barred the state from enforcing them.
In a statement issued in response to the judgment, Hochul said she strongly disagrees with the ruling and is âpursuing every option to reverse this immediately.â The state attorney generalâs office is planning to appeal the ruling.
In December 2021, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a temporary mask mandate at all indoor public places - including schools and nursing homes, and on public transit - to last a month. The state Health Department then extended the mandate to expire on Feb. 1.
The ruling was the latest setback dealt by the judicial branch to government-imposed COVID-19 restrictions.
Vaccine makers: Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX), Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN), and Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX).
The U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month blocked President Joe Biden's vaccination-or-testing mandate for large businesses.
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