New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Saturday the city’s public schools will remain closed for the rest of the academic year in order to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Closure of the largest school system in the country means 1.1 million students in the 1,800 schools throughout the city’s five boroughs will continue to learn via the internet’s “remote education” system that began on March 16.
Remote learning works for those who are accustomed to using the internet and are comfortable with the technology. But there are still some students who don’t have access to internet or computers at home, according to a report published by CNBC, which said the city has “struggled to lend out equipment to students and has left some school buildings open for parents to pick up food.”
The mayor was clear the decision had not been simple: “There’s nothing easy about this decision,” he said. ““Lord knows, having to tell you that we cannot bring our schools back for the remainder of the school year is painful. I can also tell you it’s the right thing to do. It will clearly help us save lives.”
Shortly after de Blasio’s announcement, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told media that no decision had yet been made on the matter.
“It makes no sense for one locality to take an action that’s not coordinated with the others,” Cuomo said at his own daily news briefing in the state capitol, in reference to other school districts.
He added in response to de Blasio’s announcement, “He didn’t close them and he can’t open them. We may do that, but we’re going to do that in a coordinated sense with the other localities.
“It is my legal authority in this situation. It was just not New York City that we closed. It was done statewide,” he said.
Since Friday, New York state’s death toll rose to 8,627 from 7,844 just a day earlier. The total number of confirmed cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus has reached 180,458, up from 170,812 across the state. However, Cuomo said on Saturday the curve of new coronavirus cases is continuing to flatten as hospitalizations are down and so is the three-day average of new virus patients being admitted to hospitals.
The death toll in New York City reached 5,742 on Saturday afternoon, and the total number of confirmed cases in the city already at 98,715.
Surprisingly, the age group that is hardest hit turns out to be those in the 18 to 44 year old range, (37,835 cases, 38 percent), closely followed by those in the 45 to 64 year old range (35,575 cases, 36 percent). Slightly more than half of those ages 50 and up (50,353 cases, 51 percent) tested positive for the virus, and the majority were male (52,864 cases, 54 percent).