Ohio State suspends classes until March 30 due to coronavirus outbreak

March 9, 2020 Owen Milnes, Max Garrison and Sam Raudins

Ohio State has suspended face-to-face instruction effective immediately due to the coronavirus outbreak until at least Monday, March 30, according to a universitywide email.

University President Michael V. Drake announced Monday night in a universitywide email that lectures, discussion sections, seminars and other similar face-to-face classroom settings will be replaced by virtual sessions due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

“While there are no campus-associated cases of COVID-19, we know that there are at least three confirmed cases in the state of Ohio, and we expect that there will be more. We are being proactive in an effort to prevent illness and continue the important work of the university,” Drake said in the email. “I understand that our policy guidelines will cause measurable disruption, but the risk of not acting outweighs the inconvenience of these temporary measures. The safety of our campus community is always our top priority.”

Three cases of the virus were confirmed in Ohio Monday afternoon and Gov. Mike DeWine declared a state of emergency in a tweet.

Students may complete virtual classes from their permanent homes or return to campus, according to the email sent out Monday night. Students returning to campus should practice appropriate social distancing and enhanced public health and hygiene.

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