After Confusion, New York City Schools to Close Starting Thursday

Schools in New York City will close, starting Thursday, after the COVID-19 positivity rate in the five boroughs broke 3%, marking the latest development in the most recent phase of COVID-19 that’s led to a new surge in cases and hospitalizations across the state.

The announcement was made by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio Wednesday afternoon after some initial confusion about whether the virus had reached levels that justified the closure.

Per a previous agreement with parents and the state, de Blasio was given permission to close schools when the average COVID-19 positivity rate exceeded 3% in the five boroughs. But the city and state track COVID-19 data differently, so their numbers don’t match up day-to-day.

That means, on some days, the state’s data can show a lower COVID-19 positivity rate than the city’s data. That happened Wednesday, with the city reporting a positivity rate above 3% and the state reporting numbers below that threshold.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in a tense press conference Wednesday, pushed back on questions from reporters, who had asked the governor to clarify if parents from New York City should expect schools to be closed Thursday.

He had previously told reporters that the COVID-19 positivity rate in New York City was 2.9%, as of Tuesday, which was low enough to avoid closing schools. The average positivity rate in New York City, according to Cuomo’s numbers, was 2.5%.

“Let’s try not to be obnoxious and offensive in your tone because you’re 100% wrong,” Cuomo said to one reporter asking for clarification on the status of New York City schools.

When another reporter asked Cuomo if the state’s data would essentially overrule data compiled by New York City, the governor insisted that numbers from the state would be used in any determination to close schools, rather than statistics from the city government.

“You don't know what the state law governs?” Cuomo said. “We've had this conversation 1,000 times. State law governs.”

But within moments of that answer, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced, on Twitter, that schools in New York City would close because the city’s data showed a COVID-19 positivity rate in the five boroughs above 3%.

“New York City has reached the 3% testing positivity 7-day average threshold,” the mayor tweeted. “Unfortunately, this means public school buildings will be closed as of tomorrow.”

De Blasio sparked speculation that schools would close Wednesday when he moved a 10 a.m. press conference — twice — ultimately landing at 3 p.m., following Cuomo’s briefing. The city was already bumping up against the mandatory school closure threshold.

Schools in New York City will remain closed until further notice, with the decision to reopen dependent on future data. When the average positivity rate declines below 3% in New York City, officials will decide when, and how, schools will reopen for in-person learning.

Parts of New York City, for now, remain in one of the state’s so-called “microcluster zones,” meaning additional restrictions are set in those areas to curb a concentration of the virus.

A zone in Queens was expanded Wednesday, according to Cuomo, and new zones were set up in the Bronx. Both are “Yellow Zones,” which carry the lowest level of restrictions.