NEW YORK — Gov. Kathy Hochul will not make a decision about rescinding the statewide mask or COVID-19 vaccine mandate to enter a New York business set to expire later this month without consulting national health experts, school superintendents and business owners over the next 10 days, she said Tuesday.

The governor has long avoided naming a specific virus positivity rate, hospitalization level or other pandemic metric to indicate when the state will relax the Dec. 13 requirement issued by state Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett.

The order remains in effect through Feb. 10, and will continue to be evaluated on a two-week basis, Hochul said.

“It’s Feb. 1 — I don’t just look at the numbers,” Hochul said Tuesday during a coronavirus briefing at North Central Bronx Hospital.

The governor will have daily conversations with White House Coronavirus Task Force members, Bassett, hospital administrators, school superintendents, business owners and other health experts around the state to assess the virus trends and New York’s COVID vaccination rate before relaxing the face mask order, she said.

“So, we’ll come to the right decision,” Hochul added.

The governor visited with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeffrey D. Zients in Washington on Monday and discussed the timeline of when to relax the state mask requirement.

“What trends are they seeing, what are they seeing in other states and other parts of the world?” Hochul said. “…We have a lot of growth areas in other parts of the state and I want more kids vaccinated. That will be a driver.”

New Yorkers have grown anxious over when the pandemic restriction, which was originally set to expire Jan. 15, will be relaxed as coronavirus cases have declined below 6.6% over a seven-day average since peaking at 23% positivity Jan. 2 in the anticipated winter surge.

“We’re not prepared to throw in the towel and say we’re done fighting COVID — we are so far from that,” Hochul said, adding that the state will continue to send millions of at-home virus testing kits to schools, nursing homes, churches and hospitals and opening temporary vaccination sites for children.

The North Country continues to have the highest coronavirus infection rates in the state at 13% Monday, but reflect a slow downturn from 10.4% over the weekend.

New COVID cases in the Finger Lakes dipped to 9.9% Monday, reflecting a continued decline from near 11% positive last week. Positivity in the Capital Region declined to 9.41% Monday, down slightly from over the weekend.

Statewide, coronavirus hospitalizations hit 7,131 New Yorkers Tuesday — a decrease of 43% since Jan. 12.

“The trends are great,” Hochul said. “We are optimistic, but also we take this seriously. And we’re not through it just yet.”

Hochul doubled down on the two-week review period for the statewide mask or vaccination requirement in businesses less than a day after the state Supreme Court Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department, granted a stay late Monday while the state appeals Supreme Court Justice Thomas Rademacher’s Jan. 24 ruling in Nassau County that the December mask order was not properly enacted.

Rademacher ruled that the mandate violated the State Administrative Procedure Act, which the Legislature enacted in March in response to the measures taken by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo after he declared a disaster emergency in March 2020.

New York appealed that decision and was granted a temporary stay, but the ruling caused confusion in school districts and businesses around the state over the last week on whether masks were required or not.

In a statement late Monday, Hochul commended the Appellate Division for granting the full stay for the duration of the state’s appeal.

“My primary responsibility as governor is to keep New Yorkers safe,” Hochul said. “Mask regulations keep our schools and businesses safe and open, protect vulnerable New Yorkers and are critical tools as we work to get through this winter surge. Thanks to our efforts, including mask regulations, cases are declining and we are seeing major progress in the fight against COVID-19. I thank the attorney general and her team for their defense of these common-sense measures, and I am confident we will continue to prevail.”

State Attorney General Letitia James, whose office filed the state’s appeal and motion to keep the mandate in effect throughout the process, also expressed confidence that the order helps protect public health and will be upheld.

“We are pleased by the Appellate Division, Second Department’s decision today to preserve the statewide mask mandate pending the appeal,” James said in a statement. “Wearing a mask saves lives. The mask mandate and (Monday’s) decision will help in our efforts to fight back this virus. My office will continue to use its full authority to keep New Yorkers safe.”

The state, led by the Department of Health, will host an expert panel on long COVID Thursday to discuss the research, clinical and functional aspects of long-term virus side effects and challenges.

Health experts continue to study people who previously had COVID and continue to experience a range of physical, mental, emotional and psychological symptoms, including heart palpitations, difficulty breathing, excessive fatigue and psychological changes.

To register, visit wdt.me/COVIDpanel.