Residents of Elmhurst, Queens, one of the city’s neighborhoods hardest hit by Covid-19 in the early months of the pandemic, were particul...
Residents of Elmhurst, Queens, one of the city’s neighborhoods hardest hit by Covid-19 in the early months of the pandemic, were particularly wary. Neha Shah, 25, was worried about her diabetic father and said she tried to avoid crowded restaurants and cafes.
“I just feel like it’s for public safety,” Ms Shah said. “I don’t agree with them being abandoned.”
For Emily Suardy, barista at Furman’s Coffee in Brooklyn, the masks couldn’t come off soon enough. They made working in her little cafe hot and uncomfortable, and she felt safe in her daily life as she and her colleagues, friends and family were vaccinated.
Even if there is a spike in positive Covid-19 cases or another variant emerges, she said, she would be reluctant to start masking indoors again unless the city reinstates its mandate. .
“I’m really fed up,” Ms Suardy said. “If it’s not mandatory, I won’t use it.”
That wasn’t the case with one of New York’s best-known recovering patients, Broadway icon Patti LuPone.
For two years, Ms LuPone said she took every precaution. But as Omicron dwindled, she said, she started going out and got a little lax about wearing the mask. Then, late last month, she tested positive before a performance of Stephen Sondheim’s “Company” and had to leave the theater.
For 10 days, Ms LuPone had to self-isolate, a lady eating lunch alone in her flat as she dealt with flu-like symptoms and fatigue.
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