Governor announces schools and colleges will remain closed, statewide, for the rest of the academic year

Governor announces schools and colleges will remain closed, statewide, for the rest of the academic yearGovernor Andrew Cuomo delivers his daily press briefing on COVID-19, Coronavirus (Darren McGee- Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced all K-12 schools and college facilities statewide will remain closed for the rest of the academic year and will continue to provide distance learning during that time. The schools will also be required to continue meal programs and child care services for essential workers. The state will make a decision about summer school programming by the end of May.

 

Governor Cuomo is also directing all schools and colleges to create re-opening plans that re-imagine school facilities in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. These plans should consider how schools can monitor the spread of COVID-19; how to reinforce student safety; when and how to resume extracurricular activities; protocols for special student populations; steps to ensure student mental health; alternative academic calendars; among other considerations. All plans will be reviewed and approved by the state.

 

The Governor also announced the state is partnering with the Kate Spade New York Foundation and Crisis Text Line to provide a 24/7 emotional support service for frontline health care workers. Those workers can text NYFRONTLINE to 741-741 to access these emotional support services.

 

The Governor also announced that the State Department of Financial Services will require New York State-regulated health insurers to waive cost-sharing, including deductibles, copayments and coinsurance, for in-network mental health services for New York’s frontline essential workers during COVID-19. DFS will also issue an emergency regulation to prohibit insurers from imposing cost-sharing for telehealth and in-person mental health services rendered by in-network providers on an outpatient basis to frontline essential workers eligible to be tested at one of the State’s drive through or walk in COVID-19 testing sites.

 

The Governor also announced new targeted efforts to further reduce the number of new hospitalizations per day, which has remained steady at approximately 1,000 over the last several day. This new effort will gather additional information and data from hospitals about the individuals who are being hospitalized for COVID-19, including if they are essential workers, where they work, how they commute, where they live and other demographics. This specific information and data from the hospitals will be used to come up with a new strategy more tailored to the reduction of new daily hospitalizations.

 

The Governor also announced five new drive-through testing facilities have opened and are now accepting patients in Monroe, Erie, Broome, Niagara and Oneida Counties. Residents who would like to be tested at these facilities must make an appointment by calling 888-364-3065 or online at covid19screening.health.ny.gov.Information about the location of these new facilities is located below:

 

“It’s critical that we protect our students from this virus, and given the current circumstances we are in we do not think it is possible to put the necessary precautions in place that would allow us to re-open schools this academic year,” Governor Cuomo said. “All schools and colleges will continue to provide distance learning, meal delivery and child care services for the remainder of the school year. And in the meantime, we want schools to start developing a plan to re-open with new protocols that incorporate everything that we are now doing in society and everything that we have learned from this pandemic. This has been a hardship on everyone, but our educators across the state have done a phenomenal job stepping up to make the best of this situation.”

 

Finally, the Governor confirmed 3,942 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 308,314 confirmed cases in New York State. Of the 308,314 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows:

 

County

Total Positive

New Positive

Albany

1,204

39

Allegany

35

0

Broome

299

15

Cattaraugus

49

2

Cayuga

51

3

Chautauqua

35

2

Chemung

123

1

Chenango

99

1

Clinton

61

2

Columbia

202

32

Cortland

28

0

Delaware

61

0

Dutchess

3,002

48

Erie

3,481

162

Essex

28

0

Franklin

15

0

Fulton

75

4

Genesee

154

1

Greene

139

8

Hamilton

3

0

Herkimer

60

2

Jefferson

61

0

Lewis

9

0

Livingston

73

4

Madison

139

8

Monroe

1,478

37

Montgomery

54

1

Nassau

36,161

307

Niagara

440

20

NYC

169,690

2,212

Oneida

451

12

Onondaga

860

28

Ontario

91

1

Orange

8,751

101

Orleans

92

3

Oswego

64

1

Otsego

67

0

Putnam

990

20

Rensselaer

298

11

Rockland

11,812

104

Saratoga

358

4

Schenectady

514

13

Schoharie

43

1

Schuyler

7

0

Seneca

41

2

St. Lawrence

176

3

Steuben

216

0

Suffolk

34,037

373

Sullivan

880

42

Tioga

90

2

Tompkins

128

0

Ulster

1,298

19

Warren

182

6

Washington

170

22

Wayne

71

0

Westchester

29,232

262

Wyoming

68

1

Yates

18

0

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