On April 5, 2021, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city would be eliminating the rule that causes a school building to close when two unrelated cases of COVID-19 are reported in the building.

In response, UFT President Michael Mulgrew issued the following statement: 

A proclamation is not a plan. The city can’t change the two-case rule without Albany’s approval.

Thanks to the effectiveness and availability of vaccines, the percentage of adults testing positive for COVID has declined. But students now account for two-thirds of the new infections. We have been talking to our medical experts, and we will continue to discuss these issues with the city.

Any change to the two-case rule has to take the safety of children and their families into account, not the Mayor’s need for a Monday morning announcement.