Utah Gov. Gary Herbert says gatherings should be limited to 100 people for at least the next two weeks in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. UPR's Kerry Bringhurst tells us Herbert announced the measure at at a news conference Thursday where officials from the University of Utah and Utah State University said they are canceling in-person classes and moving the rest of the semester online.
Utah Governor Gary Herbert says gatherings in the state should be limited to 100 people for at least the next two weeks in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Herbert announced the measure at a news conference Thursday where officials from the University of Utah and Utah State University said they are canceling in-person classes and moving the rest of the semester online.
Utah State University President Noelle Cockett is part of a statewide taskforce that announced all of Utah’s higher education institutions will go online.
“USU is the land-grant institution for the state of Utah,” she told reporters. “That means that we have campuses and centers across the state. We have people coming and going from campus.”
Cockett says USU has a core mission of research, education, and outreach.
“But unprecedented times require unprecedented actions, and we are working towards implementing actions rather than wishing later we had been implementing more precautions,” Cockett said.
The Utah COVID-19 Community Task Force consulted with the Utah Department of Health, the Utah System of Higher Education, and the Utah State Board of Education before announcing recommendations to Utah’s institutions of public and higher education.
Beginning Wednesday March 18 USU classes will be accessible online. Classes between Friday and next Tuesday are cancelled to allow faculty members time to move classes into the online learning environment. Employees at USU will continue business as usual as much as possible. Residents of university student housing are being allowed to stay on campus. Essential services, including meals, will remain available through the end of the semester.
