NYC Closes Public Schools To In Person Classes Due To Spike In COVID-19 Cases

New York City public schools will shut down in-person classes temporarily starting Thursday, November 19, because of surging coronavirus cases, top city officials revealed earlier today.

According to The NY Daily News, Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said the closure would be “temporary” in an email to staffers Wednesday afternoon but did not estimate when in person school classes would reopen.

Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed the school closures on Twitter minutes later after he delayed his morning press briefing by more than five hours.

“New York City has reached the 3% testing positivity 7-day average threshold,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, this means public school buildings will be closed as of tomorrow, Thursday, Nov. 19, out an abundance of caution. We must fight back the second wave of COVID-19.”

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and others have been critical of de Blasio for not changing the threshold used to close schools. 

During a combative press conference in Albany earlier today, Gov. Cuomo told reporters that schools would close regardless if the state designates the city as an “orange zone” micro-cluster, a move that would also shut down gyms and bring an end to indoor dining.

“(The law) always said that, if, by the state’s numbers, you hit 3%, the schools close,” Cuomo said about the state’s micro-cluster strategy.

The strategy, however has always primarily targeted much smaller geographic areas.