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Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted that New York City schools will switch all-remote Thursday -- and until further notice -- after hitting his 3 percent rolling positivity rate threshold Wednesday following nearly a week of teetering on the brink.

It comes as a painful about-face for the nation's largest public school system, which was one of the first big city school districts to bring students back to classrooms this fall. De Blasio, who formalized the New York City schools announcement in a live briefing five hours after his scheduled 10 a.m. press conference, said the difficult decision pleased no one in his administration.

"We are all, in fact, feeling very sad about this decision because so much good work has been put into keeping the schools open," he said. "Opening the schools when almost no other major school system in America opened, making them so safe, but we set a very clear standard and we need to stick to that standard."

More sweeping restrictions appear on tap for the five boroughs beyond that, with Gov. Andrew Cuomo prepared to transition the city to an orange zone if it meets his micro-cluster criteria. That bans indoor dining and closes gyms and salons.

"The state has made very clear additional restrictions are coming and coming soon" to the entirety of the five boroughs, the mayor said in his afternoon briefing.