A teacher at the largest high school in New York City has tested positive for Covid-19, according to officials, as the state found itself at the epicentre of the unfolding coronavirus pandemic in the US.

Brooklyn Tech High School confirmed the case in an email sent to parents of the school’s nearly 6,000 students on Thursday night.

“I am writing to inform you that a member of our school community has self-reported that they tested positive for COVID-19,” Davd Newman, the school’s principal wrote in the email. “A disinfection of the school building has been completed in accordance with New York State Department of Health guidelines. As a reminder, the DOE routinely conducts deep cleanings in your school.”

He added: “Nothing matters more than the health and safety of our staff and students, and we are committed to keeping our school community fully informed.”

The email followed a decision earlier in the week by New York City’s Department of Education to suspend in-person instructions and move to a remote-learning plan beginning on Monday.

Loading....

Parents reportedly told the New York Post they were concerned about “the potential for a lot of infections” after the teacher tested positive for the novel virus, which has caused a global death toll of more than 11,000. Over 272,000 people have tested positive for Covid-19.

In the US, there have already been a reported 275 deaths and more than 18,000 confirmed cases, as health officials said the true figures were likely far higher.

The country faced significant hurdles in distributing testing kits during the first months of the pandemic, which analysts have said was a window of time when transmissions could have been slowed with the help of rapid testing.

South Korea, which has slowed the spread of the pandemic within its borders, tested nearly 274,000 people for the virus in the same amount of time it took the US to test just 25,000 people, after both countries confirmed their first official cases of Covid-19 on 20 January.

New York has been one of the hardest hit states in the US, according to the latest figures, which show more than at least 5,600 cases have been confirmed in New York City alone. At least 7,102 people have tested positive for the virus throughout the entire state.

Local hospitals erected testing sites near their facilities in recent days and built intensive care units specifically for Covid-19 patients, as some suspended elective surgeries and moved nurses and doctors into those units to manage an influx of new patients.

Hospital staff meanwhile posted desperate pleas for donations of critical medical gear, known as PPE, and cited a severe shortage of life-saving supplies like ventilators and face masks.