Ralph Northam, Virginia governor, closes K-12 schools amid coronavirus outbreak

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Friday ordered the closure of all public schools in the state for a minimum of two weeks, starting Monday.

“We are taking this action to keep Virginians as safe and healthy as possible, and to minimize exposure to COVID-19,” Mr. Northam said in a statement. “I recognize this will pose a hardship on many families, but closing our schools for two weeks will not only give our staff time to clean and disinfect school facilities, it will help slow the spread of this virus. This is a fluid and fast-changing situation. We will do everything possible to ensure that students who rely on school nutrition programs continue to have access to meals, and that the disruption to academics is as minimal as possible.”

The Virginia Department of Education is working with localities to minimize disruption to instructional time and to make sure students who qualify for free and reduced lunches are able to receive them while schools are closed.