Update | We’ve now learned George Mason University and Germanna Community College will move all classes online.
To limit exposure on our campus, [George] Mason is extending spring break by an additional week through March 20. This will allow students and faculty to prepare for virtual alternative instruction and reduce close contact on campus.
The Antonin Scalia Law School will move immediately to virtual alternative instruction and will not go on an extended spring break. Additionally, classes in other colleges and schools that are already online will not be delayed by the extended spring break and will continue as scheduled.
When spring break ends, most classes will be conducted through virtual alternative instruction, from Monday, March 23 through Friday, April 3. Students will be contacted by their faculty with additional details about virtual learning. The university will continue to monitor and reevaluate the situation prior to April 3. If an extension of virtual learning is needed, we will adjust as determined and communicate that with you.
While Mason students will take courses off-campus, the buildings on campus will remain open for faculty and staff.
Germanna Community College in Fredericksburg will also extend its spring break to March 20, giving students five more days of unanticipated time off. Between Monday, March 23 and at least April 3, all classes at Germanna will be held online.
The college will call its staff members back to work on Monday, March 16. Extensive sanitizing and cleaning for the college on Friday, March 20 and 27 and Friday, April 3. Employees should not report to work on those days, we’re told.
Original post 4:41 p.m. | Students at Northern Virginia Community College won’t return to campus following spring break.
The college announced today it would transition all of its classes to remote online learning due to the coronavirus outbreak. NOVA students are currently out on spring break now. The college will cancel classes on March 16 and 17 to allow for the transition.
Between Wednesday, March 18 and Friday, April 3, all classroom activity will be conducted virtually. Spring break for NOVA students began on Monday, March 9 and was slated to end on Sunday, March 15.
“Out of an abundance of caution and with a goal of supporting CDC guidance regarding social distancing,” the college penned in a press release.
Students taking courses that do not have a remote learning option that requires hands-on experience, such as clinical, labs, and internships should check with their instructors for alternatives, the press release states.
Currently, there are no known COVID-19 cases on NOVA campuses. However, there are more than 20 confirmed cases in the D.C.-Maryland-Northern Virginia region.
While students will be kept out of classrooms, campuses will remain open.
“NOVA campuses will remain open unless otherwise notified. Keeping NOVA open allows faculty to develop and deliver lessons and materials electronically, thus maintaining continuity of teaching and learning,” the college told Potomac Local News. “It also allows staff and administrators to continue to provide services to help with additional response efforts.”
The college will decide on March 27 if it will extend its remote operations policy beyond April 3.
NOVA joins The University of Virginia which also moved all of its classes online. “We will not be holding classes on Grounds for the foreseeable future, quite possibly through the end of the semester,” the university states.
Campus officials there in Charlottesville say classes will be held remotely until at least April 5. Also, George Mason University canceled all international travel for students, staff, and faculty through at least April 10.
Virginia health officials today confirmed the ninth case of coronavirus in the state, at the Chickahominy Health District in Hanover County outside Richmond. The resident had just returned home from international travel in a known coronavirus hot zone.
Yesterday, health officials reported new cases in Spotsylvania and Loudoun counties.
At a press conference held this morning by Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, officials urged people to get the flu shots and said that anyone who has recently returned home from travel to a coronavirus hot zone, those exhibiting respiratory issues, those who have been in contact with someone with the virus, or those in nursing homes should be tested immediately.
Health officials urged residents to call their doctors’ offices ahead of time before submitting to the tests.
