Governor Andrew Cuomo has decided educational institutions in New York state will not open at all this spring.

At his daily coronavirus briefing in Albany Friday, Cuomo announced that K through 12 schools and college facilities will remain closed for the remainder of the academic year.

The governor said all schools and universities will be required to continue providing distance learning as they've been doing for several weeks.

Cuomo said the decision was made as "the best course of action to keep students, educators and staff safe."

A decision regarding summer school programs is to be announced at the end of May.

During the update, the governor said 289 people had died of COVID-19 Thursday in New York state. That raised the state's confirmed coronavirus death toll to 18,610.

Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com

For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.

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