ALBANY, N.Y. — It's official. There will be no in-class summer school this year in New York State. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday classes will be conducted virtually to reduce the possible spread of the coronavirus.
Cuomo said it's too soon to decide whether school will resume in the fall. The state will issue guidelines in June so schools and colleges can start to plan for a number of scenarios. After that, school districts will need to submit their re-opening plans to the state for approval in July.
New hospitalizations continue to trend down. At 246 cases, Cuomo says that rate is lower than when the crisis first started back in March, "we got over the mountain". New cases and intubations are also down.
Still the governor had the sad news to report that 105 New Yorkers succumbed to the virus on Wednesday.
The state is now investigating 157 cases of the child inflammatory syndrome that may be connected to COVID-19. One week ago, seventeen states and seven countries were reporting potential cases. Cuomo says cases are now being reported in 25 states and 13 countries.
Cuomo also announced the state will start making contact tracing phone calls. If you test positive for COVID-19, a tracer will call you and ask who you were in contact with and may have potentially exposed. The call will come up on your phone as 'New York State Contact Tracing'. He hopes everyone who gets the call will answer it to protect their own health and the health of their family.
As the Memorial Day weekend gets underway, Cuomo reminded New Yorkers that state beaches open Friday. If you're planning on going, you might want to get there early. The beaches are limited to 50% capacity and the governor says he expects that to be reached by 10 A.M. There will be no group contact activities allowed, such as volleyball or football. Picnic areas, playgrounds and pavilions will be closed off.Masks will be required where social distancing is not possible and there will be no concessions.
For those who are working and those who at some point will return to work, there is now a number to call if they believe their employer is not following PPE, hygiene and social distancing guidelines. The number for the New York Coronavirus Hotline is 1-888-364-3065.
The deadline for businesses to turn in sales tax revenue to the state has been extended again. The deadline original deadline was moved from March 20 to May 19 and has now been pushed back to June 22.