USU moves classes online in response to coronavirus

Utah State University announced that classes for the remainder of the Spring 2020 semester would be moved online to help slow the spread of coronavirus.

The move was announced to students through the school's campus alert system Thursday. Classes from Friday through next Tuesday have been cancelled "to allow faculty members time to move their classes into the online learning environment."

USU Housing residents are encouraged to stay on campus, and "essential services will remain available through the end of the semester."

Thursday's announcement came in concert with a press conference where the University of Utah announced a similar measure and Gov. Gary Herbert announced recommendations for the state. The recommendations will be in effect for the next two weeks and reevaluated during that time.

— Limiting mass gatherings to groups of 100 healthy individuals, including religious gatherings and concerts but not explicitly including schools at the moment or workplaces with more than 100 employees.

— People over the age of 60 or immunocompromised people should avoid gatherings of over 20 people.

— Workers able to work from home are encouraged to do so.

— Health officials around the state were asked to protect at-risk individuals and continue to implement visitor restrictions.

Utah K-12 schools did not move to online courses and were discouraged from closing without guidance from health officers.

Herbert underscored that the recommendations are based on science and analysis of the response of other communities.

The governor underscored the importance of a calm response to COVID-19 based on sound medical advice and not rumors. For example, contrary to misinformation spread as early worries of the virus grew, there is no threat to water supplies.

"Our water supplies are good and abundant," Herbert said.

Before Thursday's move to online classes, USU canceled and postponed all campus events and university travel, both domestic and international, through at least April 8. Classes went on as scheduled Thursday, though students coming back from last week were encouraged to stay home if they felt ill and to fill out a survey if they had traveled during the break.

An increasing number of universities around the nation have already moved to online-only classes in an effort to slow the spread of the virus in an effort to limit its impact on health care and other infrastructure.

The campus event cancellation also impacted university programs not taking place on campus, like the Cache Makers program, which has its makerspace at the BTECH West campus in Logan.

Meanwhile, Edith Bowen Laboratory School, which is on the USU campus, also continued classes as scheduled Thursday but announced several adjustments to the elementary's activities due to the event ban. Music rehearsals were to continue as scheduled, as well as governing board and community council meetings.

The NCAA announced Wednesday that the upcoming men's and women's basketball tournaments would still happen but the general public wouldn't be admitted as spectators. Later that day, USU Athletics responded to questions that they had not placed any travel or play restrictions on teams, but that the situation was changing quickly.

This story will be updated.