State: Kids ages 2-5 will not be required to wear masks this summer

State: Kids ages 2-5 will not be required to wear masks this summer

FILE- In this Sept. 2, 2020 file photo, parents bring their children to participate in an outdoor learning demonstration to display methods schools can use to continue on-site education during the coronavirus pandemic, at P.S. 15 in the Red Hook neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough of New York. New York City's already delayed school year is scheduled to start remotely Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020 in a soft opening that will serve as a prologue to the return of students to physical classrooms on the following week. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

East Farmingdale, NY- New York State officials have reversed a mask mandate that was announced last week for the state’s youngest learners.  Health officials had announced last week a new mandate requiring children ages 2 and older, to wear masks in daycare’s, preschools and summer camps.  The Office of Children and Family Services now says mask wearing for children over the age of 2 should be “encouraged” but no longer required.

More on the mask mandate that was issued last week can be found, here.

More on the updated guidance on masks being encouraged but not required can be found, here.

Photo: FILE- In this Sept. 2, 2020 file photo, parents bring their children to participate in an outdoor learning demonstration to display methods schools can use to continue on-site education during the coronavirus pandemic, at P.S. 15 in the Red Hook neighborhood of the Brooklyn, NY. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)