Mayor Bill de Blasio is sticking with his plan to shut New York City schools if the coronavirus seven day infection rate average hits three percent. Right now it’s slightly below that.
The mayor was asked why he is not being flexible on the three percent city infection rate triggering a school shutdown given coronavirus is not a problem in schools and also following the governor’s comments that he would like schools to stay open.
“There is a second wave bearing down on us. We are trying to beat it back. We said we would make health and safety the priority. We said we would hold this standard. That was part of how we convinced everyone that it would be safe to come into the schools.”
De Blasio says the city is mulling over more school coronavirus testing and safety measures to get schools back open quickly should they shut.