Puerto Rico to Shutter Schools Amid Spike in COVID-19 Cases

FILE - In this May 21, 2020 file photo, a Puerto Rican flag flies on an empty beach at Ocean Park, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The number of tourists arrested in Puerto Rico on charges of violating COVID-19 measures is increasing as the U.S. territory cracks down on visitors who stay out past curfew and refuse to wear face masks or remain under quarantine, authorities said Tuesday, March 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti, File)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s health secretary announced Thursday that all public and private schools in the U.S. territory would close for two weeks amid a surge in COVID-19 cases.

The closures would go into effect April 12, roughly a month after some 100 of the island’s 858 public schools were authorized to reopen for the first time in a year amid the pandemic. Only kindergarteners, special education students and children in first, second, third and 12th grades were allowed to return to school. They attend in-person classes only twice a week and are dismissed before noon, with school cafeterias remaining closed.

The announcement was praised by some health experts, teachers and parents who worried about an increase in infections and had warned that reopening schools was a rushed decision.

Health Secretary Carlos Mellado said that while no COVID-19 breakouts were identified at any of the schools, the move is necessary given the recent spike in cases.

The island of 3.2 million people has reported more than 200,000 confirmed and suspected cases and more than 2,000 deaths.

More than 1 million vaccines have been administered since inoculations began in December, and starting on April 12, all those 16 years and older can be vaccinated. Currently, only those 35 to 49 years old with chronic health conditions are authorized to receive a vaccine, along with all those 50 and older.