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HEALTH-VIRUS-NEWYORK
New York city closes public schools over virus concerns
NEW YORK, March 16, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on
Sunday announced the closure of public schools in America’s biggest city,
bowing to pressure after strongly resisting the move aimed at curbing the
coronavirus pandemic.
“I regret to announce that as of tomorrow our public schools will be
closed,” de Blasio told a news conference, saying they would stay shuttered
until April 20, and potentially for the remainder of the school year.
The mayor had argued against the closures, fearful of the impact on the
economy and on the support services that the city’s schools provide for many
of their 1.1 million students.
But pressure on the mayor had steadily risen, coming from parents,
educators and local hospital officials.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the city of 8.5 million
people has steadily risen, passing 300 on Sunday.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had advocated for the school closures.
After de Blasio’s announcement, the governor justified the move by saying it
would “reduce density and mitigate the spread” of COVID-19, the disease
caused by the new coronavirus. He also urged the city to swiftly institute a
strategy for dealing with the massive knock-on effects of school closures.
“NYC must have a plan in place in the next 24 hours for childcare for
essential workers and a plan to make sure kids will continue to get the meals
they need,” Cuomo said on Twitter.
The local chapter of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) had accused
de Blasio of “recklessly” jeopardizing the health of students, their families
and school staff by not closing schools, according to an email Saturday to
union members seen by local news media.
Shortly after the closure announcement the union said it was “greatly
relieved” that New York’s public schools would close for five weeks.
The city’s 1,800 schools serve some 1.1 million students, making it the
largest school system in the country.
The pressure on New York had surged in part because numerous other big-
city school districts — including those in Los Angeles, Seattle and
Washington — with a combined student population of one million students,
have already closed.
Parents and teachers had weighed in on social media and elsewhere to
demand the closings.
But Mayor de Blasio had previously stood firm, saying that a closure’s
harmful ripple effects would be even worse than the risk of the virus
spreading through schools.
“There are lots of unintended consequences, lots of negatives,” de Blasio
said Sunday on ABC, insisting he had also heard from many parents who
supported his plan to keep schools open.
De Blasio, a supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie
Sanders, had stressed that thousands of children from poor families depend on
the free meals they receive at school.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 0845 hrs