New York City shut down in-person schooling as the citywide test infection rate for Covid-19 hit 3%, forcing parents of hundreds of thousands of kids to find alternative child-care arrangements or adjust their work schedules. Schools will be closed as of tomorrow “out of an abundance of caution,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday on Twitter. De Blasio agreed with parents and teachers months ago to set the 3% rate that forces a temporary halt to the largest U.S. school system’s blended program of classroom and remote instruction. The move forces almost 300,000 students who had been participating to join the rest of the city’s 1.1 million public-school students in all-online instruction at home. “It’s crazy. We’re looking at Plans B through Z, because my husband and I both must work outside the home, and I have three weeks left of reduced paid leave,” said Kanika Ingram, a Verizon field technician whose husband is a U.S. Postal Service manager. The announcement came amid confusion among public officials. De Blasio, initially scheduled to give a 10 a.m. virus briefing, postponed it until 11:30 p.m; more than three hours later, he rescheduled it for 3 p.m. In the meantime, Governor Andrew Cuomo held his own virus briefing, where he announced that New York City’s latest average positivity rate was 2.5%. Cuomo also noted that a 3% rate would put New York City in a state-designated orange zone that would have to shut indoor dining, gyms and other “high-risk,” nonessential businesses. It was unclear if de Blasio’s announcement on Twitter, which came as a surprise to Cuomo, mean the additional restrictions mentioned by Cuomo would be made. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake