Cynthia Nixon.Photo: Marion Curtis/StarPix for HBOmax/Shutterstock
Cynthia Nixonis criticizing the current COVID-19 protocols in place across New York City public schools.
On Monday, the 55-year-oldSex and the Cityactress spoke out onTwitterabout the rise of COVID cases within schools, condemning how it’s being handled and comparing her 10-year-old son Max’s school drop-off situation to Netflix’s South Korean survival dramaSquid Game.
Days earlier, Nixon criticized New York City’s new mayor,Eric Adams, claiming he hasn’t done enough to protect students and educators.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“Here in NY our Mayor is all talk & ‘swagger’ ZERO walking the walk,” shetweeted. “He says they’re ‘randomly testing’ 20% of students, but with all the caveats on who is tested, yesterday at my 10 yo’s school only 12 students out of 305 were tested. That’s 3.9% of the student body.”
“Read this student’s account of what’s happening at one of the NYC’s most elite public high schools,” Nixon added, sharing a Reddit post from a high schooler. “THIS is what happens when you have a Mayor who thinks swagger can replace actual functioning Covid-safety protocols that keep schools up & running & teaching effectively.”
Nixon, whoran unsuccessfully for governor in New Yorkas a progressive challenger to then-incumbent Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2018, said that public schools should follow the example of private schools for proper COVID protocols, suggesting the distribution of masks, weekly testing and more.
“Last spring Congress gave $123 billion to K-12 schools for Covid preparedness. Why isn’t NYC ‘prepared?’ Mayor Adams has stepped into a huge challenge with the surge of Omicron, but kids now are neither learning NOR safe & the Mayor’s big swagger is doing little to hide that,” she wrote.
New York City public schools reported4,065 casesof COVID as of Jan. 9 — 3,378 students and 686 staff — according to the Department of Education.
In a Jan. 3press release, Mayor Adams said that the city has expanded its COVID protocols in all schools while maintaining that in-person learning is the best option.
“Our young people rely on our public schools as lifelines every single day and we owe it to them to be fully open,” Adams continued. “As someone who was born, raised, and graduated from NYC public schools I know how important they are to families across the city and we will not deviate from our commitment to keeping them safely open.”
As information about thecoronavirus pandemicrapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from theCDC,WHOandlocal public health departments.PEOPLE has partnered with GoFundMeto raise money for the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a GoFundMe.org fundraiser to support everything from frontline responders to families in need, as well as organizations helping communities. For more information or to donate, clickhere.
source: people.com
