Ohio State University suspends all face-to-face classes, travel due to coronavirus concerns

The Ohio State University campus in Columbus, Aug. 28, 2018. Jeffrey Wadsworth, a university trustee, resigned his post on Aug. 30, saying that a three-game suspension of its football coach, Urban Meyer, was too soft, given his mishandling of domestic violence accusations against an assistant coach. (Maddie McGarvey/The New York Times)

The Ohio State University campus in Columbus, Aug. 28, 2018. Jeffrey Wadsworth, a university trustee, resigned his post on Aug. 30, saying that a three-game suspension of its football coach, Urban Meyer, was too soft, given his mishandling of domestic violence accusations against an assistant coach. (Maddie McGarvey/The New York Times)

Ohio State University has announced that it will be implementing several measures to help prevent possible spread of the novel coronavirus, including suspending face-to-face lectures, discussion sections, seminars and other classes, all of which will be moved to virtual instruction through Monday, March 30.

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The university said that it was evaluating what to do in the case of laboratory and performance classes, which it said it will announce later this week.

While taking virtual courses, the university said that students can either stay on campus or return to their permanent place of residence, whichever is the best choice for each student’s personal situation.

OSU also said that it was preparing plans for faculty and staff to telecommute, and was suspending all university-sponsored travel.

Anyone who traveled on personal trips to China, Italy, Iran and South Korea, which are under a Level 3 warning from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, is asked to report that travel to the university.

Those people are asked to self-quarantine for 14 days and watch for symptoms of the disease, during which time they should not go to work, attend class or participate in any other community or campus activities.

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Finally, the university said it would not schedule any new, non-essential events through April 20.

The university stressed that there are no campus-associated cases of the virus, but it was putting these restrictions in place as a proactive effort to prevent any illness.

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