MU suspends classes as Kansas City officials warn those at high risk for coronavirus
The University of Missouri announced Wednesday it is suspending all classes through Sunday, and classes will only be offered remotely for several days after that, because of concern over the new coronavirus that is spreading across the U.S.
The news came the same afternoon it was announced the NCAA and Big 12 basketball tournaments will be played without fans, and hours after Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and the city’s top public health officials advised high-risk groups should avoid crowded events.
Those most at risk from COVID-19, the disease’s official name, include pregnant women, people over 60 and those with underlying health conditions. People in those groups were advised to consider staying home instead of attending large gatherings such as sporting events and parades.
People over 70, public health officials said, shouldn’t go at all.
There has not been a case of the virus in Jackson County yet. As of Wednesday, the only known cases in the region were a Johnson County woman, the first in Kansas, and a St. Louis County woman, the first case in Missouri. The coronavirus has infected more than 100,000 people across the globe and killed more than 4,000.
University of Missouri
In the statement from MU Wednesday afternoon, Chancellor Alexander Cartwright said a “small group” of faculty and students had attended a conference in New Orleans this past weekend where another attendee tested “presumptive positive” for the coronavirus.
Cartwright noted there have been no cases of the disease found on the MU campus.
None of the students and faculty who attended the New Orleans conference were showing symptoms, Cartwright said. Those individuals were staying home and following public health guidance.
On campus, in-person classes were suspended starting at 5 p.m. Wednesday and continuing through Sunday. Faculty were instructed to put in place plans to deliver instruction remotely. Online classes were to continue as scheduled.
During the week of March 16-20 classes will be held remotely. After spring break, the university plans to resume in-person classes on Monday, March 30.
All nonessential university-related travel was suspended until April 12 and all nonessential university events will be canceled until March 29, Cartwright said. The university will continue to be cleaned and disinfected.
Kansas City warnings
The warning against crowded events came in a news conference Wednesday morning with Kansas City Health Department Director Dr. Rex Archer, Mayor Quinton Lucas and Emergency Medical Services Medical Director Dr. Erica Carney.
“For folks that are over 70,” Archer said, “the risk continues to go up with this disease in regards to serious health complications, including hospitalization and potential death.”
Archer, who is over the age of 60 and at higher risk himself, said he has given up tickets to theater shows “Fiddler on the Roof,” opening next week, and “Aladdin,” coming in April.
Carney said pregnant women and anyone with more than one chronic health condition such as high blood pressure or lung disease, should avoid large gatherings.
People who live with someone with underlying conditions should also avoid those gatherings.
“On top of that,” Carney said, “if you are younger and you come down with symptoms, we recommend that you avoid going to nursing homes.”
Those with symptoms should try to stay out of emergency rooms and hospitals. First, Carney said, they should call their primary care physician and the health department.
The availability of test kits, Archer said, has been one of the biggest challenges in the U.S.
“There is still not the capacity that we would like to see in public health,” Archer said. “I’d love to have availability of tests to where I could be doing some random screening in emergency rooms where people have similar symptoms to this virus. We don’t have that capacity to do that right now.”
For now, Carney said, everyone should focus on washing their hands.
School trip canceled
Shawnee Mission East has canceled a spring break trip one of its choirs planned to take to Europe because of the spread of the new coronavirus there.
According to the choir’s website, the group had planned to travel to the Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria.
“There were developments overnight (in Europe) that changed a lot of things about our trip. It pains me to do this, but it is the responsible thing to do,” Ken Foley, the school’s director of choirs, said in an email to parents on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Reuters reported that Czech Republic prime minister Andrej Babis closed schools indefinitely and banned gatherings of more than 100 people in an effort to contain the spread of the disease, known as COVID-19. The country has reported 40 cases since March 1.
Like most area school districts, Shawnee Mission’s spring break runs March 16-20.
Concerns about the virus have forced other groups in the metro to cancel mission trips overseas and families to change their spring break travel plans. Colleges and school districts are also asking students to rethink their spring break travels, especially international trips.
This story was originally published March 11, 2020 at 12:59 PM.
