Ten states have ordered their schools to shut down while Washington State is closing schools in three counties near Seattle as more than six million American children will be staying home this month due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second-largest school district behind New York City, also announced it would be closing all of its schools from Monday.
All public schools and most private schools in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Louisiana, South Dakota, Oregon, Ohio, Michigan, Maryland, Kentucky, and New Mexico will shut down schools beginning next week.
Philadelphia and San Diego also plan to shutter their schools beginning on Monday.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee also ordered a mandatory, six-week shutdown of all public and private K-12 schools in the three largest counties in the state – King, Pierce, and Snohomish.
Inslee has ordered the schools to close by no later than this coming Tuesday, March 17. They will not reopen before Monday, April 27.
Evening building supervisor Randy Allen sweeps the hallways at Orange High School in Pepper Pike, Ohio, on Thursday. The governor has ordered all the state’s public schools shut due to the coronavirus outbreak
Boston’s Elliot School is closed due to the coronavirus disease. The school’s basketball court is seen above
The playground at Lowell Elementary School in Tacoma, Washington, sits empty, after the school was closed Tuesday
Seattle has been hit hard by the outbreak, which has so far claimed the lives of 41 Americans.
In King County alone, 31 people have died after being infected with coronavirus.
So far, there have been more than 1,700 cases of coronavirus nationwide.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.
The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.
In mainland China, where the virus first exploded, more than 80,000 people have been diagnosed and more than 60,000 have so far recovered.
San Francisco announced that all of its schools will be shuttered for three weeks beginning Monday and stretching through the end of the regularly scheduled spring break on April 3.
The decision was made after four students at Lakeshore Elementary School reported symptoms of pneumonia that officials believe may be due to coronavirus.
This March 6 file photo, shows a classroom vacant through a window at Saint Raphael Academy in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, as the school remains closed following a confirmed case of the coronavirus
So far, there have been more than 1,900 cases of coronavirus nationwide
As of Friday, there have been a reported 1,930 cases of coronavirus nationwide
After some of the children’s adult relatives also reported having respiratory illness, officials made the decision to close the school.
In Sacramento County, the Elk Grove Unified School district has also been ordered closed – in addition to a few other school across California.
Officials in Los Angeles have so far resisted public calls to close schools, saying that class instruction will continue for the time being, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Schools in Texas remain open with the exception of the state’s largest district – Houston Independent School District, which said it was closing for two weeks.
New York, the largest school district in the country, is keeping schools open for the time being.
Philadelphia, which has reported at least seven cases of coronavirus, is shutting 63 local schools after a total of 13 coronavirus cases were reported in Montgomery County.
Andy Falero, 17, skateboards in front of a closed middle school in New Rochelle, New York, on Thursday
school janitor opens the door to a staff room inside Bothell High School in Bothell, Washington, on February 27
Osceola High School was closed in Osceola, Wisconsin, on Tuesday after it was discovered someone testing positive for the coronavirus attended a function last Saturday at the school
Authorities in Arizona have shuttered schools in five districts – Pima Unified School District, Osborn School District, Cartwright School District, Alhambra Elementary School District, and Kyrene School District.
As of Thursday evening, there are nine cases of coronavirus in Arizona, with two of them confirmed with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are three cases in Maricopa County, five in Pinal County and one in Pima County.
The District of Columbia has ordered its public schools to close beginning March 16 until March 31.
On March 24, students in D.C. will begin remote learning. Normal class operations are expected to resume on April 1.
In addition to orderings its schools shut for two weeks, Maryland has also activated the National Guard.
The Port of Baltimore has been closed to passenger cruise ships and all nonessential state government workers have been told to work from home.
In Massachusetts, three schools in Boston and scores of school districts across the state have been ordered closed for varying periods of time.