New York mayor says all public schools will fully reopen in September

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said all public schools will fully reopen in September with in-person classes only.

"One million kids will be back in their classrooms in September, all in person, no remote," Xinhua news agency quoted de Blasio as saying during a TV program on Monday.

"We can't live in the grip of Covid for the rest of our lives. There's four months between now and September.

"We're going to keep showing the data, we're going to keep showing people the health and safety measures, we're going to invite people to come in," the Mayor added.

De Blasio had previously signaled that a remote option might be available, but on Monday he said that rapid drops in Covid-19 levels as vaccinations increased changed his opinion.

"It's May, the data has been unbelievably clear, vaccination has worked ahead of schedule," he said.

"It's a whole new day. It's just a whole new reality and we're ready."

Public schools in New York City were closed in March 2020 amid the outbreak of Covid-19 and partially reopened in October with the option of online learning.

In a statement issued on Monday, the city's Department of Education said: "Our commitment to the health and safety of our staff, students, and families remains our top priority.

"As we work towards reopening, we will continue to monitor and make necessary changes based on the evolving health guidance from experts."

Daily new cases, hospitalisations and deaths in New York City have fallen sharply since the second wave of the pandemic which peaked in January this year.

Till date, 63.5 per cent of New Yorkers aged 18 and older have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine, and 54.7 per cent have been fully inoculated, according to the state government.

The state of New York, which was once the epicentre of the pandemic in the US, has so far reported a total of 2,147,069 confirmed coronavirus cases, 53,456 deaths and 1,668,783 recoveries.

--IANS

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