NYC reports over 100,000 COVID-19 cases

New York City saw confirmed COVID-19 cases surpass the 100,000 mark to reach 103,208 by midnight Sunday with a death toll of 68,098, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Sunday that the city would open five new testing centers in hardest-hit communities to address previously-found disparities among different racial groups and between the rich and the poor.

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“We cannot accept this inequality. We have to attack it with every tool we have,” said de Blasio.

The mayor doubled down on his plan to close all public schools for the remainder of the 2019-2020 academic year, one day after he announced the decision.

This is “the right thing to do for our parents, our kids, our teachers,” de Blasio said.

“This is not a legal or jurisdictional question,” he said. “This is a moral question.”

New York City has the nation’s largest school district with some 1.1 million students. All public schools in the city have been closed since March 16 due to the coronavirus.

De Blasio has promised that the city would complete deliveries of Internet-enabled digital devices for every student who needs them for remote learning.

However, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo is at odds with de Blasio over school closings, saying that it should be coordinated with the districts around the city and the state.