Schools ordered to remain closed until end of academic year

Pennsylvania schools will remain shuttered for the rest of the academic year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Gov. Tom Wolf's education secretary signed the closure order Thursday. The decision affects more than 1.7 million students in public and private K-12 schools. It means children will spend the rest of the academic year learning remotely. Wolf says it wasn’t an easy decision, but calls it “a critical step” to protect as many people as possible. He had previously closed schools indefinitely. Pennsylvania has more than 18,000 confirmed COVID-19 infections and 338 deaths.