NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – A public school in Queens has switched to all-remote learning for 10 days because of a COVID-19 outbreak, officials said.
P.S. 166 in Astoria is the second public school in the city to close this academic year due to a COVID-19 outbreak. P.S. M079 in East Harlem was the first; it temporarily closed a week after the school year began.
The 10-day switch to remote learning started Wednesday and will last through Nov. 19, with students expected to return Nov. 22.
Data from the city shows that 22 students and three staff members tested positive at the school between Nov. 3 and Nov. 9. There has been a total of 37 cases at the school since classes started on Sept. 13.
During Mayor Bill de Blasio’s briefing Wednesday, a reporter noted that United Federation of Teachers president Michael Mulgrew said the school would've closed two weeks earlier under last year’s criteria.
The mayor said “the situation in this city is entirely different” this year and that officials are reacting accordingly.
“We have all adults in our school communities vaccinated and we have an incredibly low level of COVID in our schools,” the mayor said. “So we changed the rules. We followed CDC guidance and we changed the rules of how we handle these cases.”
De Blasio said the fact that only two public schools have closed over outbreaks since September is “pretty amazing” and that it “speaks volumes to all the precautions that we’ve taken to create a safe environment.”
The closure comes as the city continues to roll out COVID-19 vaccines to newly eligible kids between 5 and 11 years old.
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