New York’s public schools, which reopened after much hesitation at the end of September, will close them again from Thursday, after the COVID-19 positivity rate reached 3%.
“We have reached the 3% threshold” of positive cases among New Yorkers tested, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio wrote on Twitter Wednesday. “This means that schools will be closed from Thursday 19 November as a precaution. “
The mayor said schools will remain closed at least until the week after Thanksgiving Day (November 26), the first in December.
This closure, presented as temporary by the mayor, is undoubtedly the prelude to other measures aimed at stemming the resurgence of the coronavirus in New York, warned the elected Democrat.
Most will be taken, he announced, by the Governor of the State of New York, Andrew Cuomo, who has authority over the conditions of opening of businesses, restaurants, bars or places of worship.
Schools will be closed from Thursday 19 November as a precautionary measure
Although the rate of positive cases has increased significantly in recent weeks in New York State, it is among the lowest in the country, and is far from the 50% of positive cases seen during the first peak of the pandemic, in April. The closure of schools had been expected for several days.
The mayor of the first American metropolis pledged, during the reopening at the end of September, in particular to a powerful teachers’ union, to close schools as soon as this threshold is reached.
However, the decision is controversial. Random tests carried out in schools showed that the positivity rate (0.19%) was much lower than that of the city as a whole, recalled Richard Carranza, head of the city’s school district, in an email to the principals on Wednesday. And many cite the example of Europe, where many countries have kept schools open while re-defining the rest of the population.
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Bill de Blasio explained Wednesday that the City will present this week new measures necessary for the reopening. “We can do it, but we need to put in place stricter conditions,” the mayor said. “Testing will become more of the norm,” he said.
Until now, the re-entry plan provided for one test per month in each establishment.
Some 1.1 million students attend New York public schools, the country’s largest school district. 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.
Most of the establishments having divided the pupils into three groups, each one following one another in the premises in turn to respect the necessary distance, only around 100,000 children were present each day.
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