Several Major Hospital Systems Won’t Require COVID Masks

A nurse at Three Rivers Asante Medical Center runs to a room in the Intensive Care Unit to help as medical staff treat a COVID-19 patient in Grants Pass, Ore., on Sept. 9, 2021. Nathan Howard/Getty Images

A major New York hospital system has no plans to reinstate mandatory masking for patients, visitors, doctors, nurses, and other staff, going against a trend at hospitals in upstate New York.

Dr. Peter Silver, senior vice president at Northwell Health on Long Island, told Newsday on Thursday evening that the number of COVID-19 cases doesn’t warrant mandatory mask-wearing at facilities.