On Monday, April 6th, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo extended statewide school closures until April 29th. Previously, students throughout New York State were scheduled to return to school April 13th, with schools in Onondaga County scheduled to reopen April 14th. This extended closure is a result of a spike in coronavirus cases throughout New York State, with 138,836 statewide. Yesterday, New York reported a staggering 731 deaths, the greatest number of deaths in a day that the state has experienced thus far due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Board of Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa announced Monday that Regents exams will be canceled this year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The cancellation of Regents exams could affect students’ ability to graduate on time as students are required to pass one exam in english, math, science, social studies and a fifth one in one of these subject areas, or an alternative assessment. However, the majority of students have already taken the required exams before their senior year. Additionally, there is also the possibility the exams could be taken later in the year, as Regents exams are also given in August and January, in addition to June.

“Yesterday, New York reported a staggering 731 deaths, the greatest number of deaths in a day that the state has experienced thus far due to the coronavirus pandemic.”

The Board of Regents made various other changes as of Monday. State education officials will not conduct a review of school and district performance using school year data to see if districts are meeting standards. 

Cuomo and other state officials continue to urge New Yorkers to practice safe social distancing as the coronavirus continues to spread throughout New York. “Behind every one of those numbers is an individual, is a family, is a mother, is a father, is a brother, is a sister. So, a lot of pain again today,” Cuomo said.

Daily statistics from Governor Cuomo:

Deaths in New York State: 4,758, up 599 from 4,159 on Sunday morning.

Confirmed cases in the state: 138,836, up from 122,031 on Sunday.

Hospitalizations in the states: 16,837, up 2 percent from 16,479 on Sunday.

Patients in intensive care: 4,504, up 2 percent from 4,376 on Sunday.

For more information regarding COVID-19 please refer to:

CDC: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

World Health Organization: Coronavirus

Johns Hopkins Live Map: Coronavirus COVID-19 (2019-nCoV)

health.ny.gov: Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

syracuse.com: Post-Standard

Central New York School Closures: List of CNY schools closing due to coronavirus