Public schools in New York, the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, will remain closed until the end of the school year, Mayor Bill de Blasio but state governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Saturday. quickly replied that he was the sole decision maker on this issue.
"It's not an easy decision," said Bill de Blasio at a press conference in the morning. But "it will clearly help us save lives." However, in the middle of the day, Andrew Cuomo claimed that he alone had "legal authority" to make this decision.
Disagreement on the issue of containment
"You cannot make a decision just for New York City, without coordination with the metropolitan area, because everything works together," explained the governor during his press briefing. Andrew Cuomo said he understood the mayor's position. "He wants to close (the schools) until June, and we could do it, but we will do it in coordination with the other cities," he said.
Freddi Goldstein, a spokesperson for Bill de Blasio, noted on Twitter that the two officials, longtime rivals in the Democratic Party, had already opposed the issue of population containment. "We were right at the time and we are right today," she said, assuring, "the schools will remain closed."
The Governor's reaction to us keeping schools closed is reminiscent of how he reacted when the Mayor called for a shelter in place. We were right then and we're right now.
Schools will remain closed, just like how we eventually - days later - moved to a shelter in place model.
The number of deaths increasing
The death toll from coronavirus continues to rise in New York City and has already reached 5,820 deaths according to Johns Hopkins University, which updates the balance sheets continuously. But hospitalizations are falling, according to authorities.
The closure, effective since March 16, affects 1.1 million children who have switched to distance education. The mayor said he decided to keep the schools closed after discussing them on Friday evening with the White House adviser on the virus, Anthony Fauci.
Equipment loans for families
According to the municipality, families without the necessary equipment for online courses will be loaned computers and tablets by the town hall. Some 175,000 devices have already been sent to children in the city.
Governor Cuomo had extended the closure of all state schools until April 29. More than 170,000 people are infected with the virus in the state, and more than 8,600 have died from it.
With just under 800 dead in 24 hours over the past few days (783 counted on Friday), the situation is stabilizing "but at a horrible rate", said Andrew Cuomo, adding that this "incredible figure shows incredible loss and suffering" .
Bill de Blasio also said that 6,000 New York adults living in homeless shelters were going to be transferred to hotels.
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