NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio told 1010 WINS on Sunday that the city is sticking to its 3% rolling positivity rate threshold when it comes to deciding on any potential school closures, a day after Gov. Andrew Cuomo suggested the city consider other factors before pivoting to all-remote learning.
"It was what we decided, because we wanted to convince people they would be safe, and we've been able to prove that," the mayor said outside the Iglesia el Camino church in Brooklyn.
"Keeping that trust is very important going forward," he said. "Remember, most of the school year is ahead. The vast majority of the school year is ahead. So we do want to keep that trust and faith with parents, with teachers, with staff."
Schools will remain open Monday after the test positivity rate on a seven-day average was 2.57% Sunday, still below the 3% threshold, the mayor said.
On Saturday, Cuomo suggested that the mayor look not only at the citywide positivity rate but the rate in schools—which has been markedly lower at 0.18%—before deciding on whether to close them.
The mayor said the threshold was set by his health team and not part of any agreement with the administrators or teachers unions. But he said they are in talks about what the next steps would be if schools must close.
"We are in conversations with the state about if—if—we had to close schools, how quickly could we bring them back? And what would it take to bring them back? That is a conversation we're having right now," de Blasio said.
The mayor also called the current COVID numbers worrying and said that he believes if they continue to grow it will be hard to keep indoor dining going. He said any decision is ultimately up to the governor but that he feels the pain of businesses.
