Yates County says health department will focus on other pandemic response efforts, not state mask policy

Officials in Yates County say records will be kept, but enforcement won’t be imminent with New York’s recently enacted ‘mask mandate’.

County Administrator Nonie Flynn told Finger Lakes News Radio on Monday that the health department there would be focused on vaccination, contact tracing, testing, and other activities that have kept public health workers busy during the pandemic.

Yates joined Ontario and Livingston counties in the Finger Lakes region not immediately enforcing the ‘mask mandate’ after Gov. Kathy Hochul said enforcement would be optional and at the local level.

Other counties spoke to the lack of manpower to pull off enforcement of such a mandate. Unlike the early days of the pandemic, fatigue and confusion over best practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have created divisions between individual communities.

RELATED: Ontario County says it won’t enforce mask mandate because they don’t have the manpower

Staff Report

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