New York to keep schools closed for remainder of academic year

FILE PHOTO: A man wearing a protective mask walks past P.S. 87 William Sherman School during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., April 12, 2020. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File Photo

(Reuters) - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Friday all state schools would stay closed for the rest of the academic year due to the coronavirus pandemic, even as hospitalizations and the daily death toll fell to their lowest levels in more than a month.

Cuomo said he did not think schools were ready to reopen and ordered them to come up with a plan to keep their buildings clean and limit outbreaks, with a decision on whether children might attend summer classes due by the end of this month.