From what I've been told at most universities in Ohio, these are teacher-led classes online. Students aren't teaching themselves. They are getting their lectures live but remotely.
I wouldn't expect a refund check when the university is still paying the teachers to teach, plus are paying for extra online broadcasts.

Per our POTUS, travel ban from Europe (Except the UK) for 30 days.....

NBA suspended season and Tom Hanks has COVID. This last hour has been kind of nuts.

Well, the New York Times is reporting that Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that 2 of 3 Germans are infected, so I would say that 66.67% is close enough to 70%.

Merkel said in an address to the German parliament that two out of three Germans may become infected, not that they are infected currently. Again, her assessment isn't outside the realm of possibility, based on what epidemiologists are predicting. Merkel's number is just on the high side of the predicted infection range.

As for my own experience, I work for a federal agency that still has provided absolutely no guidance beyond hand washing and "Dracula Coughing." They haven't advised us to postpone or cancel non-essential travel, request video teleconferences instead of in-person oral arguments, or do additional telework beyond the one day a week that most of us already do. We've been waiting for promised guidance since early last week, and nothing has arrived, not even after someone in my office was put in quarantine yesterday with a "probable" case of Coronavirus. "Probable" only because the narrow testing parameters spelled out by the CDC a couple weeks ago are still in place, at least in my area, so she can't be tested (yet). But given everything, her doctor is pretty sure she is infected. In the absence of any direction or communication from agency leadership on how to deal with this, middle management in my office is trying its best to deal with the situation, and the disruption that has resulted. For myself, I have to go in to the office today, but will start teleworking three to four days a week beginning tomorrow. Let the social distancing commence!

I wish I could say that my agency is an aberration, and that others are handling this better, but I've heard similar stories from friends at other Departments. It seems like a lot of state and local jurisdictions are ahead of the feds in dealing with this. Mind you, only my impression

The chapter houses on my campus are staying open but with caveats. Most are only allowing residents to be in the house, along with minimal "essential" staff (cleaners, cooks). No guests or out of house members allowed. Some houses are making their residents fill out a form to stay in the house and only those who with a form on file will be allowed in. Meal service will be abbreviated to some extent, again it'll vary from house to house.

My younger brother was at the Jazz-Thunder NBA game last night where they shut down the game at half time because one of the Jazz players tested positive. Now other Jazz players are testing positive.

Our Greater Chicago Alumnae Chapter just posted this to Facebook with the message: Are you tired of singing Happy Birthday? Try saying The Creed when washing your hands instead. 💚⚓💛

https://scontent-bos3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...de&oe=5E914BA9

How perfect! Ours is a bit long, but then, my hands would surely be clean.

ACC tournament cancelled, along with others.

Thanks for this. After my alma mater announced yesterday that it was going online only for the rest of the semester and everyone has to leave their dorm, I wondered what it would be like had a similar situation happened when I was in school back in the stone age. We were the rare Greek group that owned our house, so those of us who lived in the house could have stayed if the house corporation allowed it. It would have been strange, but I think I would have preferred that to trying to study back at home, where between my parents and sisters, it would not have been quiet enough.

With all these schools going online, will the internet keep up?

Merkel or the NYT isn't up with the facts. https://www.worldometers.info/corona...untry/germany/
These estimate, give to the public, do more harm than good. Even in China, then haven't seen numbers like those. They are bending the curves.

MIT is actually going to online classes, not closing completely. They've cancelled classes for next week. The following week would have been spring break anyway. Starting on the 30th, classes will continue online for the remainder of the semester. Commencement may or may not be cancelled.

All undergraduates in dorms and fraternity and sorority houses are being forced to leave. There are residences for graduate students, but they're set up as apartments, rather than dorms with kitchens and bathrooms shared among many residents, so graduate students who live on campus can stay on campus.

This is causing major headaches, especially for some international students, because of visa issues or because they come from countries that have been hard hit by COVID-19.

As of yesterday, there were 92 confirmed or presumptive cases in Massachusetts, 70 of which were connected to a recent conference in Boston - hence why Boston/Cambridge schools are taking precautions.

... And COVID-19 is the official winner of the NCAA tournaments. They've been cancelled.

You can let her know that I've been teaching - TEACHING - online for 6 years. He won't be teaching himself, and that professor is putting in too much work to go without pay.