Coronavirus Update New York City: 1.5 million COVID tests later, NYC's school year comes to an end

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- The final bell rings Friday on a year that has put New York City's public schools to the test, 1.5 million of them to be exact.

That's how many COVID tests were conducted as the City's schools navigated in-person, hybrid and at-home learning in a second year affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

The large number of tests allowed the nation's largest school system to stay open for much of the year, despite a majority of students opting to learn from home.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday that the positivity rate among those 1.5 million tests was just .03%.

"This is a testament to the vaccination effort," de Blasio said.

But de Blasio said masks will still be required in schools.

"I'm not going to be surprised that if at some point during the course of the summer, or right before school, the masks restriction comes off, but for now out of an abundance of caution we are keeping it on," de Blasio said during an appearance on WNYC-AM.

On Friday, Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter was set to visit three schools in three different boroughs - a high school, a pre-K program, and a middle/elementary school - to mark the last day of the public school year.

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on coronavirus

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