NYC Mayor Eric Adams doubles down on keeping K-12 schools, preschools, and daycares open, says parents ‘need to work’

© Provided by Business Insider Eric Adams. AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

• NYC Mayor Eric Adams said that daycares and preschools would remain open amid a rise in hospitalizations in younger kids.
• His comments were made during an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday.
• Last week, health officials reported a spike in hospitalizations in children under five years old.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said that childcare facilities and preschools will remain open amid heightened concern of the number of coronavirus infections rising amongst kids.

Adams’ remarks were made during an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday after host Margaret Brennan asked him if daycares will remain open especially if those 4-year-old and younger are not yet eligible to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

“Yes, we are. We’re going to continue to do what we’re doing, coordinating with our health care professionals. When you start to disrupt the stability of childcare, of daycare, and education, it has a rippling impact throughout our entire city,” Adams responded. “Parents … can’t keep their children home. They have to work.”

“The economy is also part of this crisis that we are facing. And with the proper balance of creating a safe environment inside our daycares, our schools, in other locations, our parents can go and do t he jobs they need to do, and that is what I must face in the city,” he added. “We have to ensure the financial ecosystem is healthy as well as our children and our families are healthy at the same time.”

Adams has been consistent in the decision to keep schools open, as staff and parents are battling the rise in cases. According to the New York Times, last week there was an increase in hospitalizations for younger children who have contracted COVID-19. Health officials say the surge in hospitalizations is attributed to the highly contagious Omicron variant, that has become the dominant strain in the US.

“Please, for our youngest children, those who are not yet eligible for vaccination, it’s critically important that we surround them with people who are vaccinated to provide them protection,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said Friday, the Hill reported. “This includes at home, at daycare and preschool, and throughout our entire community.”