Natasha Vaughn is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced during a press briefing May 17 that New York will adopt the recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on wearing masks during the COVID-19 pandemic beginning Wednesday. “We have to reopen, we have to reopen smart, we have to reopen with a cautious eye,” Cuomo said. “We have to get back to life and living. And we have to do it the way New Yorkers do it, we have to do it quickly and robustly.” Effective May 19, fully vaccinated people will no longer need to wear a mask or stay six feet apart except where it is required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance. People will be required to wear masks while on public transportation, in nursing homes, homeless shelters, correctional facilities, schools and health care facilities, Cuomo said. People who are immunocompromised and not vaccinated are being asked to continue to wear a mask and physically distance. And fully vaccinated people no longer have to get tested following a known COVID exposure unless they are residents or employees of correctional detention facility or a homeless shelter. Over the weekend, six county executives, including Pat Ryan of Ulster and Marc Molinaro of Dutchess, called on Cuomo to lift the the mask requirement urging him to follow the "common sense guidance" of the CDC. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.