In a press release issued earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that effective Monday, December 13, 2021, all indoor businesses and venues in New York State must implement either a mask or vaccine mandate applicable to patrons and employees. This comes on the heels of the New York City advisory issued last Friday, December 3, encouraging, but not requiring, indoor masking, and Mayor Bill DeBlasio’s employer vaccine mandate announcement earlier this week. At present, neither an executive order nor interpretive guidance has been issued by the State on the mask or vaccine mandate announced today. To ensure compliance, employers that have not implemented a vaccine mandate should require that all employees, visitors, and patrons wear masks, effective Monday, December 13. We will provide an update when additional information becomes available.