New York City to keep schools closed: mayor

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said Saturday that public schools in the largest US city would stay closed until the end of the school year as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage, even as the state's governor stressed that the decision was his to make.

"There is nothing easy about this decision," the mayor said at a news conference, before adding that "it clearly will help us save lives."

But hours later, Governor Andrew Cuomo insisted the authority to make such a call was his.

"You can't make a decision just within New York City without coordinating that decision with the whole metropolitan region, because it all works together," Cuomo said.