New York City will begin closing its nearly 1,900 public schools this week through April 20 in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Sunday. 

Why it matters: The drastic step will impact the daily lives of 1.1 million children, 75,000 teachers and over 1 million parents who make up the largest public school system in the country, per the New York Times. 

What they're saying:

"NYC must have a plan in place in the next 24 hours for childcare for essential workers and a plan to make sure kids will continue to get the meals they need.  NYC schools will close early this week.  This action is necessary to reduce density and mitigate the spread of COVID19." 

— Andrew Cuomo tweeted