By Staff

Mar. 17, 2021: A year ago, the Covid-19 pandemic was just starting in New York. One of the first known cases in the state was a patient at New York Presbyterian-Lawrence Hospital who was subsequently transferred to New York City for treatment. 

On March 16, 2020, Mayor Mary Marvin and Bronxville Superintendent Dr. Roy Montesano wrote a joint letter to the community. They announced that the Governor and the Westchester County Executive would be declaring a State of Emergency in Westchester and closing all public and private schools. Dr. Montesano also announced that the Bronxville School would be transitioning to a "distance learning" platform effective Monday, March 16, 2020. Read the full story here.

On March 23, 2020, MyhometownBronxville reported that there were 12,305 Covid-19 cases in New York City and 2,894 in Westchester.

In the months to come, cases would rise dramatically. According to the New York State Department of Health Covid-19 Tracker, as of March 15, 2021, over 1.74 million people in New York State had tested positive for Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic. Sadly, 39,636 New Yorkers have succumbed to the disease, including 2,328 residents of Westchester County. 

Over this past year, the Bronxville School has been able to successfully operate with a combination of remote, hybrid and in-school learning. 

Bronxville is still in the throes of the pandemic today, but with vaccinations underway, there is light on the horizon. The New York State Vaccine Tracker shows that as of March 15 at 11 am, 4.57 million New Yorkers had received at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose and 2.37 million had completed the vaccine series. 

The question we are all asking is when will life be back to normal? In an interview yesterday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that 2 to 3 million people are being vaccinated each day, which is good news. However, he also noted that daily Covid cases are still high with 45,000 to 60,000 new infections per day.  He warned that pulling back on public health measures too soon could result in a surge similar to what is currently happening in Europe. The route to normal includes vigilance and vaccination not just in the United States but worldwide.

According to the Westchester County Covid-19 Dashboard, as of March 14, 2021, there were 5,058 active cases of Covid-19 in Westchester County and 39 cases in Bronxville.  

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