WWU, WCC move all classes online after Whatcom County’s first COVID-19 diagnosis
Hours after Whatcom County declared a health emergency with its first confirmed positive case of novel coronavirus, Western Washington University announced that it was moving the rest of its classes for the winter quarter online.
Beginning Wednesday, March 11, the school will not offer any face-to-face classes through the end of the quarter on March 20, a letter from WWU President Sabah Randhawa to the campus community late Tuesday stated.
Whatcom Community College, which had already canceled classes Wednesday, announced in a tweet at 11:13 a.m. Wednesday that it is following suit and moving the remainder of its winter quarter classes online. Winter quarter concludes March 27.
Randhawa cited the county’s first diagnosed case of COVID-19 — a woman in her 60s who received medical care at St. Joseph hospital, improved and was sent home to self-isolate — as the reason Western decided to make the decision at the time it did.
Northwest Indian College also announced in a Facebook post that it is canceling classes Wednesday for mandatory precautionary training on COVID-19 mitigation.
As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, no other Whatcom County schools announced any changes on their websites or social media following Tuesday’s news.
“I know this disruption at the end of the quarter may cause some concern, but please know that we have been planning for this possibility,” Randhawa wrote. “Your understanding and patience and care for others is greatly appreciated.”
With the move, WWU faculty will provide exams online or make other arrangements for students, Randhawa wrote, including the possibility that final grades would be based on work already completed.
While there will no longer be any instruction on campus, Randhawa reported that other campus operations will continue as normal.
At this time, the school plans to resume classes after spring break on March 31.
In response to Western’s decision, the Whatcom Transportation Authority announced in a tweet that it will not run Route 105 or the 80X Shuttle to Mount Vernon until face-to-face classes resume.
Washington State University is following its western counterparts and moving to online classes following spring break. WSU leaders made the decision Wednesday to cancel in-person classes starting on March 23 at all five campuses. There is no decision on when instruction could return to classrooms.
As previously reported, Bellingham Technical College will end its semester six days early on March 20.
The Meridian School District announced late Monday that it was closing its schools Tuesday and Wednesday after a staff member was exposed to a person confirmed to have COVID-19 outside the area and began showing flu-like symptoms.
This story was originally published March 11, 2020 at 6:15 AM.
