UPDATE Jersey City Preps Lessons In Case Of Coronavirus Closures

JERSEY CITY, NJ — After the Jersey City School District announced that schools would close early on Wednesday so that they could prepare virtual lesson plans, Superintendent of Schools Franklin Walker told NJ.com that the district was preparing up to three weeks of lessons in close the schools have to close.

According to the story, "Students would receive between 10 and 20 hours worth of home instruction per week, depending on their grade. Students with internet access would be able to use programs like Google Classroom to communicate with teachers and get additional instruction."

Meanwhile, the district Tweeted on Thursday that there were "no confirmed cases" of the virus in the city, after a news report said that 20 students were asked to self-quarantine, pending tests.

The Jersey City schools were closed at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday to prepare.

The district also posted a letter from the superintendent on Monday with updates on preventative measures, policy, and preparations.

As of Wednesday, many schools in New Jersey have closed to prepare. There have been 23 announced cases of the virus statewide, and one death.

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases. The strain that emerged in China in late 2019, now called COVID-19, is related to others that have caused serious outbreaks in recent years, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was on Jan. 21.

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