The city is looking to replace the two-case rule that was implemented to stop the spread of the coronavirus, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday. 

The rule requires a whole school to close down for 10 days if there are two separate confirmed cases of coronavirus. 

Councilmember Brad Lander has collected signatures from parents as part of his call to replace the two-case threshold with a comprehensive test and trace approach. 

The president of the United Federation of Teachers is not as optimistic about the announcement, saying, “Any change to the two-case rule has to take the safety of children and their families into account, not the mayor's need for a Monday morning announcement."

The UFT says that because of vaccination efforts, cases of adults testing positive are down. However, they say two-thirds of positive tests are coming from students, which is something they say needs to be taken into account. 

Although there is no confirmation on what the new plan may look like, the mayor says he will release more details later this week.

School activists say they hope to see a concrete and well-developed plan in place to keep students, staff and parents safe.