Governor announces guidance for reopening schools in New York State

Governor announces guidance for reopening schools in New York StateGovernor Cuomo announces that school guidance for New York State has been released.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced new, data-driven guidance for reopening schools in New York State. According to Governor Cuomo, schools in a region can reopen if that region is in Phase IV of reopening and if its daily infection rate remains below 5 percent or lower using a 14-day average since unPAUSE was lifted. Schools will close if the regional infection rate rises above 9 percent, using a 7-day average, after Aug. 1.

New York State will make the formula determination during the week of Aug. 1 to 7. New York State, the Reimagine Education Advisory Council and the Department of Health released finalized guidance and guiding principles for reopening schools today, which are available here.

The DOH and Governor’s Reimagine Council are working closely with the Department of Education as it releases education guidance. Plans to reopen schools are due on July 31.

 Topics addressed by state guidance include:

  • Masks/PPE
  • Social Distancing
  • Cohort Structures
  • Restructuring Space to Maximize In-Class Instruction
  • Transportation
  • Food Service
  • Aftercare and Extracurriculars
  • Screening
  • Tracing
  • Cleaning and Disinfecting

Governor Cuomo also updated New Yorkers on the state’s progress during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The number of new cases, percentage of tests that were positive and many other helpful data points are always available at forward.ny.gov.

 “Everybody wants to reopen schools, but you only reopen if it’s safe to reopen, and that’s determined by the data,” said Governor Cuomo.

He added, “You don’t hold your finger up and feel the wind, you don’t have an inspiration, you don’t have a dream, you don’t have an emotion – look at the data. We test more and we have more data than any state. If you have the virus under control, reopen. If you don’t have the virus under control, then you can’t reopen. We’re not going to use our children as the litmus test and we’re not going to put our children in a place where their health is endangered. It’s that simple. Common sense and intelligence can still determine what we do, even in this crazy environment. We’re not going to use our children as guinea pigs. What I say to the experts is very simple. I’m making the determination as to whether or not I would send my daughter to school. If it’s safe, I’ll send her. If it’s not safe, I’m not going to send her. And you can determine that by science.”

Today’s data is summarized briefly below:

  • Patient Hospitalization – 792 (-9)
  • Patients Newly Admitted – 60 (-15)
  • Hospital Counties – 31
  • Number ICU – 175 (+1)
  • Number ICU with Intubation – 103 (+1)
  • Total Discharges – 71,643 (+78)
  • Deaths – 10
  • Total Deaths – 24,989

Of the 51,687 tests conducted in New York State yesterday, 557, or 1.08 percent, were positive. Each region’s percentage of positive tests over the last three days is as follows:

 

REGION

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

Capital Region

1.2%

2.0%

0.9%

Central New York

1.7%

1.1%

1.0%

Finger Lakes

1.0%

0.8%

1.0%

Long Island

1.0%

0.9%

1.5%

Mid-Hudson

0.8%

0.9%

0.8%

Mohawk Valley

0.9%

0.8%

0.8%

New York City

1.0%

1.3%

1.1%

North Country

0.3%

0.4%

0.2%

Southern Tier

1.5%

0.6%

0.9%

Western New York

1.9%

1.0%

1.1%

 

The Governor also confirmed 557 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 402,263 confirmed cases in New York State. Of the 402,263 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows:

 

County

Total Positive

New Positive

Albany

2,225

6

Allegany

66

0

Broome

827

7

Cattaraugus

138

0

Cayuga

126

0

Chautauqua

171

1

Chemung

148

0

Chenango

169

3

Clinton

109

0

Columbia

487

1

Cortland

59

1

Delaware

92

0

Dutchess

4,280

4

Erie

7,766

24

Essex

51

0

Franklin

36

0

Fulton

265

0

Genesee

250

0

Greene

266

0

Hamilton

6

0

Herkimer

193

1

Jefferson

99

2

Lewis

31

0

Livingston

147

0

Madison

375

1

Monroe

4,200

23

Montgomery

133

1

Nassau

42,354

47

Niagara

1,342

2

NYC

219,301

250

Oneida

1,830

7

Onondaga

3,142

18

Ontario

302

2

Orange

10,841

6

Orleans

287

0

Oswego

222

2

Otsego

89

0

Putnam

1,365

4

Rensselaer

617

1

Rockland

13,719

3

Saratoga

610

8

Schenectady

868

4

Schoharie

62

0

Schuyler

15

0

Seneca

74

0

St. Lawrence

231

1

Steuben

276

2

Suffolk

42,112

84

Sullivan

1,465

0

Tioga

161

0

Tompkins

186

0

Ulster

1,862

3

Warren

280

3

Washington

249

0

Wayne

209

4

Westchester

35,327

30

Wyoming

102

1

Yates

48

0

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