School’s out for virus

All in a day’s news!

They call this BIG TUESDAY, not super.. but big.. Today JOE BIDEN won big and doused Bernie Sanders’ progressive flames.. He swept primary states and also handily won the great state of Michigan, the same place where Bernie pulled an upset back in 2016.

But the race for the President may be curtailed a bit by the stunning virus sweeping the globe, Covid-19. Today we learned that both Bernie, Biden canceled Ohio rallies due to virus fears…

Also canceled, sorta: School!

Bucknell:

Bloomsburg University:

Bloomsburg University has decided to extend spring break by one week due to concern about the spread of COVID-19 novel coronavirus. Classes are planned to resume March 23.

In an email sent out to faculty and staff today which was then forwarded to the student body, President Bashar Hanna announced that: “During this extension, faculty will be provided training, both locally and remotely, specific to online course delivery methods.  This will enable continuity of instruction if further delays of our students’ return to campus become warranted.”

West Chester University, the largest school in Pennsylvania’s state system, has canceled all in-person classes for the rest of the semester..

The University of Pennsylvania is prohibiting all future university-related travel and curtailing large university events at least until April 17.

Penn Medicine has prohibited all faculty, students and staff of both the Perelman School of Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania Health System — where at least one coronavirus patient is hospitalized — from participating in large gatherings.

Some large universities, including Penn State, are on spring break, although Penn State is requiring a 14-day quarantine period for students or employees returning from a country where COVID-19 is widespread before they return to campus.

The 2020 Northeast Regional Science Olympiad at Penn State Wilkes-Barre, an annual event scheduled for Wednesday that draws more than 800 students in the region, was canceled.

Philadelphia officials also confirmed the city’s first case of COVID-19 on Tuesday.  The city is urging people not to attend events of more than 5,000 attendees, including professional sporting events and the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade…





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COVID-19 even hits the Smurfs!

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As the AFP reports,

The mayor of a small French town on Tuesday defended hosting a record-breaking gathering of 3,500 people dressed as Smurfs at the weekend, after accusations that the event increased the risks of spreading the coronavirus.

“We must not stop living… it was the chance to say that we are alive,” mayor Patrick Leclerc of Landerneau in western France told AFP.

The gathering came a day before France banned all gatherings of more than 1,000 in a bid to contain the spread of the virus, which has infected 1,412 people and killed 25 in the country.

The Smurf rally drew criticism particularly from the media in Italy, which is battling Europe’s most intense outbreak, where La Repubblica newspaper described the rally as “potentially a very dangerous viral bomb”.