NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A female student at Brooklyn College tested positive for coronavirus Thursday night, prompting the school to shut down Friday, college president Michelle Anderson announced. And two public schools on Staten Island closed Friday "in an abundance of caution" after a student tested positive, officials said.
The school had already shifted classes online, but buildings and facilities remained open.
"I write to inform you that a member of the Brooklyn College community tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19) this evening," Anderson wrote in a letter to the Brooklyn College community. "The student is in the hospital under medical care, and our thoughts are with her for a full and speedy recovery."
The student takes two classes on Tuesday nights, but when she was last on campus on March 3, she was asymptomatic so "the risk to our community is low," Anderson added.
"However, out of an abundance of caution, Brooklyn College will be closed tomorrow, Friday, March 13," she wrote. "All students, staff, faculty, and visitors should NOT come to any of the College’s buildings."
The school "will use the day ... to consult further with public health officials and to deep clean the building on campus where the student was. We have notified her instructors and the other students in her Tuesday night classes."
The Department of Education announced on Friday morning that New Dorp High School and The Hungerford School on Staten Island will also be closed
"In an abundance of caution, we will close 2 school bldgs & one D75 program," the Department of Education said.
Four Brooklyn Occupational Centers are also closed Friday. Officials said the centers serve students who are medically fragile and that a teacher has self-reported a positive case.
"We are closing all four program locations and will immediately clean and disinfect the sites following state Health Department guidelines," officials said.
The Brooklyn Diocese also announced it was closing all elementary Catholic academies and parish schools across Brooklyn and Queens from March 16 to 20.
Success Academy Charter Schools—the largest charter school network in the city—also said it was suspending on-campus classes starting March 19. It's unclear when on-campus classes will resume. “This was a difficult decision. We know some families will have trouble getting childcare, and we regret that there is not a solution that meets everyone’s needs. But the coronavirus pandemic is unprecedented and evolving rapidly,” CEO Eva Moskowitz said in a statement.
Success Academy Charter Schools teaches 18,000 students in 45 schools across the boroughs, according to the Daily News.