This story is breaking and will be updated as more information becomes available.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced she will allow the state’s indoor mask mandate to expire, barring some places such as schools. The mask requirement for indoor businesses expires on Feb. 10th.

Fox News reports:

“This is trending in a very, very good direction,” Hochul said, declaring that the state is now in “a new phase” of the pandemic.

There are big exceptions where mask requirements remain in effect, the governor said, including schools and childcare centers, as well as healthcare facilities, homeless shelters and corrections facilities.

When asked when Gov. Hochul plans to reassess the need for required masking in school she pointed to the end of the upcoming break.

“After the break, after we’ve had kids tested, we are going to make an assessment that first week in March,” Hochul said, stating that any decision will be based on a variety of factors such as case numbers, percent positivity, hospitalizations, and vaccinations.

When asked why high schools, where there are high levels of vaccinations, are being treated differently from businesses, Hochul said students are in “a very concentrated setting” without much freedom of movement, and “adults can make their own decision.”

This week, a number of Democrat-led states such as New Jersey and Delaware announced plans to lift their state’s mask mandate.