Another UES School Building Closes Due To Coronavirus Cases

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — An Upper East Side school building was shut down Thursday after multiple coronavirus cases were confirmed there, the second such closure in the neighborhood this week.

The P.S. 158 Bayard Taylor School building, on York Avenue between East 77th and 78th streets, reported its first case Nov. 4, forcing a classroom to be closed for two weeks, according to the DOE's map of active cases.

At least one more case was reported Thursday in another classroom, forcing an automatic closure of the room and the school building.

The department's safety protocols force school buildings to close pending an investigation when cases are confirmed in separate classrooms within a week of each other. Buildings must stay closed for a full two weeks if a link between the positive cases cannot be determined.

On Tuesday, Robert F. Wagner Middle School, about two blocks west of P.S. 158, was closed for two weeks after multiple positive tests were confirmed there starting late last month. Classrooms were closed in an additional two Upper East Side schools whose buildings remained open Thursday, according to the DOE map.

As of Wednesday evening, 15 school buildings around the city were closed due to COVID-19 cases.

A citywide resurgence in coronavirus cases is threatening to shutter the city's school system. As of Thursday, New York's 7-day positivity rate stood at 2.6 percent, inching closer to the 3 percent threshold that would automatically close schools.