Kathy Hochul admits school closures were a 'mistake'

Unelected New York Governor Kathy Hochul said Friday it was a "mistake" to shut down schools and implement remote learning during the Covid pandemic.

Hochul was speaking at SUNY Albany for Women’s Equality Day.

"When the decisions were made to have all the kids go home and learn remotely. Wow. Wow, what a mistake that was," she said.

Hochul's comments come as she issues an order for New York's Department of Labor to examine the specific impact Covid had on women in the workforce. Her proclamation also tasks the department to explore equitable solutions to its findings.

According to local CBS News, 39 percent of working women in New York cut back working hours to spend more time with their children. Hochul said remote learning was a mistake because it caused these mothers to reduce hours at the office while they oversaw their kids' education.

The state should subsidize childcare costs and send financial payments to mothers so they can return to work and pay for someone to supervise and educate their children, she said.

"I want to get to the bottom of this. I want to hold hearings. I want to get testimony. I want to hear from women who've been affected," Hochul said.

"I want to hear from their employers. I want to hear from everybody on how we make sure we lift women up and never ever again go back to this dark place where women in this state and this nation bore the brunt of a global pandemic."

Women's Equality Day commemorates the passing of the 19th amendment which guaranteed the right for women to vote.

Hochul said she needed "procedures" to address the inequities her task force had not yet found. The pandemic's effect on women was "unfair" and she must "figure out how it happened," she said.

Hochul has consistently promoted universal vaccination, including for children, and masking for kids at all times in education centers.

Earlier this month, Biden's Covid czar Dr. Ashish Jha backtracked on two years of failed guidance for the public over Covid and said social distancing was likely "not the right way" to think about Covid prevention.

Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky announced — following an external report she ordered in April — she was calling for a "reset" to ensure the CDC would better assist Americans if and when the next pandemic occurs.