Cuomo announced that the New York State Department of Health has granted Santa a waiver to travel to New York for Christmas.
"Santa Claus asked for an exception for the 14-day quarantine requirement, because it would be impractical for him to be in the state and then quarantine and still get all his gifts delivered on time," Cuomo said. "We normally do not do waivers of quarantine...but DOH has been considering it for the past few days, and they have actually granted the request."
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While the state has granted the waiver, however, Santa will be required to wear a mask this year.
"I think you will still be able to recognize him even though he'll be wearing a mask, because he does have a fairly distinct outfit that he wears plus his body style is fairly distinct," Cuomo said. "So I don't think there will be any issue in identifying Santa this year. He'll be able to do his job, but do it safely because he'll be wearing a mask."
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