New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday announed that all school districts across city have been authorized to reopen for the fall semester.
During a press confeence, Cuomo said, “By our infection rates, all school districts can open” with tight precautions”.
Cuomo cleared the way for schools to offer at least some days of in-person classes, alongside remote learning this fall, according to a media report.
Students will be required to wear masks throughout the school days, he added.
“We are probably in the best situation in the country right now”, the governor said.
Last month he said that school districts would be allowed to reopen in September if the positive test rate for their region stayed below 5 per cent — a threshold every state region has met as of Friday.
Cuomo said the state’s Department of Health will continue to go through plans over the weekend.
Cuomo shut down the entire state March 22 as the New York City area emerged as a global pandemic hot spot, but the outbreak has been less severe in the state’s smaller cities and rural areas.
New York’s first tentative steps toward reopening follow other states that have already relaxed restrictions in May.
The state of New York, once the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic in the US, has so far reported a total of 424,000 confirmed cases and 32,336 deaths.