Photo Courtesy of the U.S. State Department
The COVID-19 pandemic has reached Oregon, with 75 confirmed cases, many tests pending and two deaths, as of Mar. 19. To combat the spread of COVID-19, Governor Brown has shut down all public schools in the state, including the Salem-Keizer school district, from Mar. 16 through Apr. 28.
Salem-Keizer will not assign graded homework during the shutdown, however, they will be providing “supplemental resources for learning,” beginning the week of Mar. 23.
Furthermore, Salem-Keizer will be providing grab and go breakfast and lunch bags at 36 school locations. These meals will be available to any child 18 or younger, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Since Oregon’s first case was detected in Lake Oswego on Friday, Feb. 28, Governor Kate Brown and the state legislature have created a ‘Coronavirus Response Team’, declared a State of Emergency, and dedicated $5 million in funding to the response initiative. On Friday, Mar. 13, President Trump declared a national emergency.
COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a new form of coronavirus. After being discovered in a food market in Wuhan, China, it has spread to more than 237,500 people on 6 continents, with the global death toll at more than 9,500. The World Health Organization [WHO] declared it a pandemic on Mar. 11.
WHO has begun posting updates and important information on the virus via its website, who.int. The website details, among other things, ways to prevent infection, including handwashing regularly and properly, maintaining at least six feet distance in social situations, avoiding large crowds and groups and refraining from touching one’s face.
According to WHO, symptoms to watch out for include a runny nose, sore throat, cough, fever, and difficulty breathing. As the virus is novel, symptoms may vary from these.
This is a rapidly changing situation, so for current updates on the COVID-19 pandemic, visit the WHO coronavirus page at www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019 or the CDC website at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html. For information on the spread worldwide, visit Johns Hopkins’ interactive map, https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html.
For Salem-Keizer schools-specific information, visit the Salem-Keizer school district’s coronavirus update page at https://salkeiz.k12.or.us/news/operations-update-march-2020/
