Written by Michael Palomba
Coronavirus is now officially a global pandemic, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Earlier today, President Trump also declared a national emergency over it. And for the first time in recent history, Americans everywhere are having to adjust to new norms in their daily lives. Students are one of the prime demographics to have to adjust to a new lifestyle.
Effective today, all SDSU in-person classes (excluding labs) are canceled and the university will be transitioning fully to online classes. UCSD will begin all online classes at the start of the spring quarter in a couple of weeks.
In addition, all of San Diego County’s 42 school districts and many charter schools will close starting this coming Monday. That decision was announced simultaneously with Los Angeles Unified School District.
These school closures are the latest of a number of measures being taken to limit the spread of coronavirus. Governor Newsom recently is urging people to avoid non-essential gatherings of more than 250 people per recommendations from the California Department of Public Health.
Changing our actions now will save lives in the days and weeks to come.
To protect the public health, CA has issued an updated policy —
Gatherings with 250+ people should be rescheduled or canceled at least through the end of March.
MORE: https://t.co/u5A2WbHBO3
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) March 12, 2020
This virus has sent the world into a frenzy; travel from Europe to the United States has been banned (the UK notwithstanding), concerts, events, and sports leagues have been delayed or canceled. It really is something we’ve never seen in our lifetime.
But there’s an important thing to remember in times like this: remain calm. Going out and buying the entire aisle of toilet paper isn’t helping anyone (except maybe the toilet paper manufacturers). When it comes down to it, only a small fraction of the population has been exposed to this virus so far.
The best course of action is to avoid large gatherings, wash your hands often, and make a habit to keep your hands away from your eyes, nose, and mouth. The world has overcome things far worse than the coronavirus, and this will pass.
