New York schools to close again as city fights virus surge

Students at West Brooklyn Community High School (Kathy Willen/AP)

New York City is shutting schools to try to stop the renewed spread of coronavirus, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a painful about-face for one of the first big US educational systems to bring students back to classrooms this autumn.

The nation’s largest public school system will halt in-person learning on Thursday, the mayor and schools chancellor said.