Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday said no decision has been made about whether schools will be back in session but said the state had hit a pandemic low in new hospitalizations as New York continues reopening businesses and easing restrictions.
“What does that reopen school look like in the quote unquote new normal, right,” the governor said at a Monday coronavirus briefing in Manhattan.
“So we’ve asked every school district to come up with a plan on what reopening would look like in your district. New York City is coming up with a plan. Pursuant to that request on what it would look like to reopen the New York City School System in September. But there has been no decision yet, as to whether or not we are reopening schools. We obviously very much would like to,” he said.
Cuomo said he’ll make a decision when “we get the data.”
But, he added, the State Fair in Syracuse is canceled. “That makes me personally very unhappy, but that is where we are,” Cuomo said of the fair, which was set to start on Aug. 21. “This is a really tough one.”
As for the rate of hospitalizations and fatalities as the state has reopened in phases, Cuomo said they are in a slight decline.
“We haven’t needed to control the increase. We’ve actually had a slight decline, and now we’re basically running flat, and that is great news. That is really great news,” he said.
There were 817 hospitalizations — the lowest since March 18 — and nine deaths on Sunday, the governor said.