Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Thursday that summer school this year will be conducted through remote and distance learning statewide.

Meal programs for students and child care services for essential workers will continue.


What You Need To Know

  • It's too early to make a decision on the fall semester

  • The state is reviewing guidelines for summer camps

  • Schools must send plans for how they would proceed in the fall that need state approval

Cuomo emphasized that it is still too early to make a determination on the fall semester, but said the state will be issuing guidelines in June so schools and colleges can start mapping out a plan for a number of different scenarios, depending on coronavirus cases at the time.

Schools and colleges are to submit plans in July for approval by the state on how they would be able to proceed with the fall semester.

The state is now investigating 157 cases of a new, possibly COVID-19-related disease in children. Last week, only seven countries and 17 states were reporting similar cases. That number has now grown to 13 countries and 25 states that are seeing this new illness.

For this reason, Cuomo said the state is still reviewing guidelines for day camps and sleep-away camps.

"If I wouldn't send my child to day camp. I wouldn't ask anyone else to send their children to day camp. It's that simple,” Cuomo said. 

Coronavirus numbers in New York are still on a steady, albeit slow, decline. Rockland County is now eligible to resume elective surgeries.

With essential works catching the coronavirus at lower rates than the rest of the population, Cuomo stresses the importance of PPE.

"Of all the bizarre things we've gone through … the PPE works," Cuomo said.

If you believe your employer is not following PPE and social distancing guidelines, you can call the New York Coronavirus Hotline: 1-888-364-3065.

As regions ramp up testing and training of contact tracers, the state has also now made it easier to identify when a contact tracer is calling you. It will now show up on your smartphone caller ID as “NYS Contact Tracing.”

One hundred and five people died from COVID-19 in New York in the past 24 hours. This is down slightly from 112 fatalities the day before.