NYC Schools to Close on Thursday due to Rising COVID-19 Cases
According to schools chancellor Richard A. Carranza, schools will temporarily close for in-person learning on Thursday, Nov. 19.
Get can’t-miss family activities sent to you!
Get the Best Family Activities
According to the mayor, closures will be temporary but will schools will not automatically reopen if the seven-day positivity rate dips below 3 percent. The 3 percent threshold for school closures in NYC is lower than anywhere else in the nation, and also lower than the one originally set this summer by Governor Andrew Cuomo for the rest of the state (9 percent). Details of a school reopening plan will be released soon, according to de Blasio. A step toward reopening of schools throughout the rest of New York State is testing, which de Blasio said earlier this week would be considered as one of the pathways to reopening in NYC.
Coronavirus transmission has remained relatively low in classrooms since their reopening, and the spike in NYC cases does not seem to be caused by the reopening of school buildings, according to The Times.
NYC is home to the nation's largest school system, and this shutdown is a major setback in New York's COVID-19 recovery efforts. The reopening of schools was also the center of Mayor Bill de Blasio's city reopening efforts. Approximately 300,000 children who have been attending in-person classes for the last eight weeks will be back at home, creating resurfaced child care problems for parents across the city.
RELATED: Everything You Need to Know About the 2020-2021 NYC Public School Year