New York requires schools to publicly disclose COVID-19 cases: What you need to know

School districts in New York will be required to publicly release data on the number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in each school building, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday.

The information on positive cases among students, teachers and staff will be posted daily online through a state Department of Health dashboard, Cuomo announced this week. The postings will begin Wednesday.

It comes after parents and teachers have expressed concerns about the prospect of COVID-19 information being withheld from the public once classes resume.

“I hope this will give teachers and parents some confidence that the plans are being implemented and if there's a positive case, they will know and DOH will know and the locals can respond quickly," Cuomo said in a statement.

Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker notified schools of the reporting requirements in a letter on Thursday.

School districts will be required to send their daily testing reports to the Department of Health. The districts must also provide a link to the daily dashboard on their website for other interested parties. That information will be updated daily, according to the governor’s office.

More: Parents, teachers worried about COVID transparency as schools reopen

Cuomo described the system as integral to ensuring transparency and accountability for school reopening plans.

"Many of the school districts have testing protocols that will be in place as part of their plans, but as I've said from the beginning, those plans are only as good as their implementation," he said.

The new dashboard for COVID-19 cases in schools will be posted on the New York Forward website, at forward.ny.gov/dashboard-covid-19-data-schools. 

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David Robinson is the state health care reporter for the USA TODAY Network New York. He can be reached atdrobinson@gannett.com and followed on Twitter:@DrobinsonLoHud