New York City's COVID-19 cases increase, but Mayor Eric Adams says no mask mandates will return

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has said that despite increasing rises in COVID-19 rates, he will not reinstate mask mandates at this time.

New York City health officials said that the city reached a "high" COVID-19 confirmed infection level earlier this week, creating what it described as "substantial pressure on the health care system."

What are the details?

According to a report from CNN, Adams addressed the skyrocketing coronavirus infections across the city during a Wednesday press conference.

"I'm proud of what we are doing and how we are not allowing COVID to outsmart us," Adams said. "We're staying prepared and not panicking."

Adams noted that while variants and rising case counts will surely come and go, the city needs to remain functional across the board.

"Variants are going to come," he said during the conference and added, "If every variant that comes, we move into shutdown thoughts, we move into panicking, we're not going to function as a city. We are being extremely strategic and we are fighting COVID with not only the tools that we didn't have before, but we're also fighting COVID using the intelligence we need to win in a COVID environment."

According to the New York Times, when asked if he planned to reinstate a mandatory mask mandate, Adams responded, "No."

Earlier this week, the report continued, Adams said that he would not consider mandates until such time as the city's hospitals are in a state of emergency or that it appears the city is "trending that way."

While the city's health department encouraged citizens to wear masks in public settings, Adams has refused to reinstate a mask mandate at this time.

WNBC-TV has reported that while infections are increasing, more than half of patients currently hospitalized for COVID across the state did not have the COVID-19 diagnosis listed as a primary reason for admission, suggesting that the current wave of infections is far milder when compared to previous infections.