New York City State Of Emergency: De Blasio Says Schools And Mass Transit Will Stay Open

[brooklynite]

Source: Forbes

Topline: Following his declaration of a state of emergency in New York City on Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio reiterated that public schools and mass transit would remain open, even as Governor Andrew Cuomo’s indefinite statewide ban on public gatherings of 500 people or more goes into effect on Friday.

In a press conference on Thursday announcing the state of emergency order, de Blasio predicted that the coronavirus “could easily be a six-month crisis,” with the number of cases in the city projected to rise to 1,000 by next week.

With concerns over the outbreak escalating, droves of New Yorkers are abandoning crowded public transport, while M.T.A. officials on Friday denied rumors that the city was planning to shut down its subways and buses.

“No. Period. Full Stop. Not happening,” M.T.A. chairman Patrick Foye said in an interview with NY1. “It’s important to emphasize that the system is safe,” he said, while also adding that the agency would ramp up cleaning efforts.

Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2020/03/13/new-york-city-state-of-emergency-de-blasio-says-schools-and-mass-transit-will-stay-open/#922d4046af1d

[Mike 03]

1. Is anybody else a little surprised about the decision to leave open the schools?

It appears to be true so far that children don't get the virus nearly as badly but they can spread it.

Also, in a Facebook post yesterday, an Italian doctor reported that as the epidemic continued they were beginning to see more and more younger people, and he mentioned a patient in his late teens.

[manhattan123]

2. Part of the concern...

...is that a big percentage of NYC public school kids get their main meals of the day at school. And many have parents who can't afford to stay off work or afford care for their kids.

But I think the city is going to bow to the inevitable and cancel schools soon.

[projectiboga]

3. NYC doesn't close schools

NYC is hard core about almost never canceling, only 10 canceled days total over past 50 years. 5 of those for ice storms and a few days for Hurricane Sandy over last ten years. I have heard that attendance during this time period won't affect High School application scores.

I'm considering keeping my 6th grader home next week. We are in Mid-Town-East in Manhattan NYC.

[TexasBushwhacker]

4. When more parents start keeping their kids home

they'll have no choice but to close the schools. Teachers can't teach classes half full and then play catch up when kids start returning.

[hughee99]

5. This is going to backfire. I hope de Blasio has already figured out who is going to take the blame

for this decision.

[Polybius]

6. I don't think he cares

He's term limited. And I don't think he's going to run again for higher office after his presidential campaign went nowhere.

[hughee99]

7. If that's true, it's incredibly disturbing that the only consideration is political. He SHOULD care

because a bunch of people could get sick and possibly die.

[greenjar_01]

8. Chicago Public Schools are closed starting Tuesday

For some in explicable reason, they want us to send our kids to school tomorrow in order to get the lesson plans or some kind of planning for the next few weeks (Schools are closed through March 30). On the one hand, I understand this. School aged children are a vanishingly small number of severe illness cases worldwide: .2% of severe illness, even with infections, and 0 deaths in children under 14 (it's actually remarkable!). The danger, of course, is that the children do get infected and can transmit the disease, even if it tends to affect children as a relatively mild cold.

So, it's weird to say "We're going to close schools for at least two weeks for social distancing, but we'll start that on Tuesday. Show up Monday as usual."

I honestly would have the slight suspicion that both my kids had this virus during the week of March 1. They were both sick with shortness of breath and coughs, but no sore throat, and my son had a fever (2 days). But it went away and they're both fine. Whatever it was that they had actually barely affected my daughter; she had a cough for one day and no fever that we could record, though she was fatigued for that day. Now, I say "suspicion" because I also don't believe this thing was circulating around our house without Mom and Dad catching it, so it might have been just a cold. But, boy, the timing and symptoms seemed right.