The Chronicle of Higher Education
by Andy Thomason
March 6, 2020
The University of Washington announced on Friday that it would cancel all in-person classes and move them online for at least the next few weeks. In doing so, Washington became the first major American university to take such drastic action amid rapidly growing fears of the novel coronavirus and the disease it causes, Covid-19.
The university, with an enrollment of nearly 50,000 on its Seattle campus, said in a message Friday morning that the campus would remain open in other capacities, and that it planned to resume normal operations on March 30, when the institution's next quarter begins. A university staff member has tested positive for Covid-19, and the Seattle area has been the site of the most intense outbreak of the virus in the United States so far, with at least 51 cases reported in King County, Wash., as of Friday.