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'We must protect our children': New York governor announces schools to stay closed this year

'We must protect our children': New York governor announces schools to stay closed this year

New York schools shut

Although the daily death toll fell to its lowest in the past one month, New York officials have decided to keep all state schools shut till the end of the academic year.

The announcement was made by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday. He has also asked all school authorities to come up with plans on how can they keep their school buildings clean and follow the protocols of social distancing.

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"To say, 'We're going to figure out that plan and put it in place in the next few weeks' is virtually impossible," Cuomo said. "We don't think it's possible to do that in a way that keeps our children safe."

The schools also face the challenge of managing cafeterias run in schools. New York hasmore than one million students, and colleges, which makes it difficult to maintain social distancing in schools, especially cafeterias. Cuomo has said they are looking at different plans to fight this issue, and keep children safe.

The Democratic governor said 289 people died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, on Thursday (April 30), down from 306 a day earlier. It was the lowest death toll since March 29.

(With inputs from Reuters)