Public schools in New York City, which reopened after much hesitation at the end of September, will close as of this Thursday, after the COVID-19 positivity rate reached 3%.
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“We have reached the threshold of 3% of test positivity: unfortunately, this means that schools will be closed from Thursday, November 19 as a precaution,” Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted on Wednesday.
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The measure had been awaited for several days: the mayor of the first American metropolis had committed, when the establishments reopened at the end of September, in particular with a powerful teachers’ union, to close the establishments as soon as this threshold was reached.
But the closure is controversial: Random tests carried out in schools have shown that the positivity rate there is much lower than the average rate in the city (0.19%), recalled Richard Carranza, head of the city’s school district. in an email sent to heads of establishments on Wednesday.
And many cite the European example, where many countries have kept schools open while re-confining the rest of the population.
The mayor did not immediately specify the duration of the closure, which comes a few days before the Thanksgiving holiday on November 26.
At the end of last week, while the city seemed close to reaching this rate of 3%, he had however assured that the closure would be “short-lived” and consulted school officials to see under what conditions reopen them quickly.
Some 1.1 million students attend New York public schools, the largest school district in the country.
But less than a third of them – around 300,000 – returned to face-to-face school in September, with many parents choosing the 100% online option for fear of the virus.
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