Coronavirus Live Updates: No snow days this year for NYC public schools

COVID-19 Live Updates, News and Information

ByEyewitness News WABC logo

Wednesday, September 16, 2020

No snow days this year for NYC public schoolsThe announcement comes as almost all students will have some sort of remote learning, and the city is forced to squeeze in as many days of instruction as possible.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- There will be no snow days in New York City public schools this year, as almost all students will have some sort of remote learning and the city needs to squeeze in as many days of instruction as possible to meet its requirements under state Education Department guidelines.

If there is a need for a snow day this winter, in-person classes will be canceled that day, and everyone will learn remotely, the Department of Education said.

He says he will also be taking the furlough along with his wife.

With the school start delayed, the city is concerned it still needs to meet the 180-day instruction requirement.

"As we reopen schools for this critical school year, we are utilizing all of the lessons learned from remote schooling this spring to maximize our students' instructional time," the DOE said in a statement. "This includes providing remote instruction during both Election Day and snow days."

What to know about coronavirus:

Back to school information

How coronavirus changed the New York region

Do you have coronavirus symptoms?

What's Open, What's Closed in the Tri-State area

Here are more of today's headlines:

Annual SummerStage Jubilee goes virtual amid coronavirus pandemic

The annual SummerStage Jubilee is going virtual amid the coronavirus pandemic, with a full lineup of entertainers set to perform via live stream starting Thursday at 8 p.m.

The City Parks Foundation hosts the free benefit concert supporting programs in parks, with the hour-long digital event featuring exclusive musical performances by Sting, Norah Jones, Trey Anastasio, Rufus Wainwright, Leslie Odom Jr., Rosanne Cash, Emily King and PJ Morton.

Gift card giveaway

Police in one New Jersey city are giving out gift cards to kids they see properly wearing masks to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

NY extends special uninsured enrollment

Uninsured New Yorkers can now apply for health insurance coverage through the end of the year in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

NYC mayor to furlough entire staff for 1 week, including himself

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday that New York City will issue a week of furloughs for Mayor's Office employees, including himself. The action, in addition to savings from the adopted budget, will represent a 12% cut to the FY21 Mayor's Office budget. The policy affects 495 mayoral staff members, who will have to take one week of unpaid leave at some point between October and March of next year.

"Dedicated public servants have worked tirelessly for our city and their fellow New Yorkers throughout this crisis," de Blasio said. "This is a painful step, but it shows just how committed we are to responsible budgeting and leading the City through these challenging times. Today's announcement makes it clear we need Albany to step up, too. We need our partners in the state government to give New York City long term borrowing authority."

NYC online student orientation begins amid teacher protests

With the start of school in New York City just a few days away, online orientation for students got underway Wednesday. The intention is to focus on students' social and emotional well-being and lay out some of the practicalities of how this unprecedented school year will work. But teachers are warning they are anticipating problems with the orientation, which is set to run through Friday.

20 homeless students get scholarships courtesy Kelly Ripa, Mark Conseulos

Twenty college-bound homeless students are receiving laptops and nearly $2,000 each from the first-ever Win Scholarship Fund established with a donation from "Live with Kelly and Ryan" host Kelly Ripa and husband Mark Consuelos. Earlier this year, the couple donated half a million dollars to Win, the largest provider of shelter and services to homeless mothers and their children in New York City, to help homeless families cope with the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Report finds global economic outlook not as bad as expected

The global economy is not doing as bad as previously expected, especially in the United States and China, but has still suffered an unprecedented drop due to the coronavirus pandemic, an international watchdog said Wednesday. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said in a report that the world's gross domestic product is projected to decline by 4.5% this year - less than the 6% plunge it had predicted in June. The global economy is expected to rebound and grow by 5% next year, the organization said.

Big Ten football to return next month amid COVID-19 pandemic

The Big Ten is going to give fall football a shot after all. Less than five weeks after pushing football and other fall sports to spring in the name of player safety during the pandemic, the conference changed course Wednesday and said it plans to begin its season the weekend of Oct. 24. Each team will have an eight-game schedule. The Big Ten said its Council of Presidents and Chancellors voted unanimously Tuesday to restart sports. The emergence of daily rapid-response COVID-19 testing, not available when university presidents and chancellors decided to pull the plug on the season, helped trigger a re-vote.

US says it plans to provide free COVID-19 vaccine to all Americans

The federal government outlined a sweeping plan Wednesday to make vaccines for COVID-19 available for free to all Americans, even as polls show a strong undercurrent of skepticism rippling across the land. In a report to Congress and an accompanying "playbook" for states and localities, federal health agencies and the Defense Department sketched out complex plans for a vaccination campaign to begin gradually in January or possibly later this year, eventually ramping up to reach any American who wants a shot. The Pentagon is involved with the distribution of vaccines, but civilian health workers will be the ones giving shots. The campaign is "much larger in scope and complexity than seasonal influenza or other previous outbreak-related vaccination responses," said the playbook for states from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

LIST: 56 New York City schools with confirmed cases of COVID-19

The Department of Education has released a full list of the 56 schools across New York City where there has been a confirmed case of COVID-19.

MORE NEWS: Watch Eyewitness to a Pandemic

The sense of doom grew, especially after March 1, when the first confirmed case arrived in Manhattan. Soon, there was a hotspot in New Rochelle, and small curfews and containment zones across the area offered a hint of a frightening future we still thought we could avoid.