The World Health Organization(WHO) just announced the coronavirus as a pandemic. There are 28 cases across the DMV, 9 cases in Virginia, 12 cases in Maryland, and 11 cases in DC(1 of them are in Congress). The mayor of DC has declared a state of emergency, and so has Maryland(not yet Virginia but I think there will be soon as the virus spreads). Since this virus is now a pandemic, the closure chances increase. There is no delay or early release in this situation, only no school or a full day of school. According to credible sources, the coronavirus is 10 times more deadly than the flu. Symptoms of the coronavirus are very similar to the flu and common cold, so it is very hard to tell them apart unless tested. Also(these aren't rumors), students from Wootton High School and Robert Frost Middle School went to the Village(elderly house) in Rockville for SSL hours and possibly had contact with the people who had the coronavirus. The coronavirus spreads really quickly and is spread by person to person. However, the coronavirus seems to mainly be infecting the elderly and people with weakened immune systems. I think that coronavirus cases will increase exponentially in the next two weeks.
Do not panic though; these are just facts. If you avoid large gatherings and wash, wash, wash your hands, you should be okay.
Closure chance, as of 03/11/2020, 7:30 PM(for tomorrow): 49%
Closure chance for Friday: 50%
Closure chance next week: 55-65%(higher as the week goes on)
I am much better at predicting school impacts due to weather than due to viruses, so I won't be as good at predicting school closures due to viruses. So, I might get predictions wrong, and I am sorry if I do. I have experience predicting before I made this blog(around 2015 is when I started). However, with viruses, I don't have a gut feeling and experience for this type of situation, so it is much harder to predict it. Also, unlike with weather, you can only get knowledge when things are happening. You can't predict the coronavirus. You can kind of tell and predict whether a storm will be a good one from 3-4 days away(there are a lot of ups and downs though). From my predictions, MCPS will close by at least next week, if they care about their students' safety, which they say they do. There is also a petition for MCPS to take action for COVID-19 and to close schools. Montgomery College and UMD have already canceled physical classes/or about to cancel them and have switched/or are about to switch to an online environment. MCPS will do that soon. In my opinion, they should close, because things are going to get a lot, lot worse.
Do not panic though; these are just facts. If you avoid large gatherings and wash, wash, wash your hands, you should be okay.
Closure chance, as of 03/11/2020, 7:30 PM(for tomorrow): 49%
Closure chance for Friday: 50%
Closure chance next week: 55-65%(higher as the week goes on)
I am much better at predicting school impacts due to weather than due to viruses, so I won't be as good at predicting school closures due to viruses. So, I might get predictions wrong, and I am sorry if I do. I have experience predicting before I made this blog(around 2015 is when I started). However, with viruses, I don't have a gut feeling and experience for this type of situation, so it is much harder to predict it. Also, unlike with weather, you can only get knowledge when things are happening. You can't predict the coronavirus. You can kind of tell and predict whether a storm will be a good one from 3-4 days away(there are a lot of ups and downs though). From my predictions, MCPS will close by at least next week, if they care about their students' safety, which they say they do. There is also a petition for MCPS to take action for COVID-19 and to close schools. Montgomery College and UMD have already canceled physical classes/or about to cancel them and have switched/or are about to switch to an online environment. MCPS will do that soon. In my opinion, they should close, because things are going to get a lot, lot worse.
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