Topic: Department suspends all travel

[LaurenMacAulay]

Yeah Alan we were shocked with the 90 days right away - but our province just announced last night ALL schools (K-12 and post-secondary) and ALL day care facilities are closed until September!!! They're hoping to prevent the spread before it gets out of control like other countries so they're taking some extreme measures for sure.

[Alan Zheng]

WHOA!!! September?!?! Calgarians must be in chaos right now trying to figure out what to do with their kids.


While I agree with taking every precaution, announcing closures in shorter tranches instills less panic. Our schools are only closed till the end of March for now. I expect that to be extended, but if someone told me it's closed till next year, I'd be going out of my mind working through wtf to do.

[Justine Kreso]

Yeah Alan we were shocked with the 90 days right away - but our province just announced last night ALL schools (K-12 and post-secondary) and ALL day care facilities are closed until September!!! They're hoping to prevent the spread before it gets out of control like other countries so they're taking some extreme measures for sure.

 

[Jennifer Floyd]

Currently all travel that has been approved is being reviewed to determine if it should still be allowed and any future travel will have to be approved by the head of the Department of Public Safety (which was created last summer and encompasses several different state agencies including the Arkansas State Crime Lab).  So not canceled per se, but likely to be restricted.  The Arkansas governor mandated 4 counties close all public schools last Thursday afternoon; he expanded that mandate to every public school Sunday afternoon.  The closure is currently through our scheduled spring break which is next week.  If it isn't continued, our kids are supposed to go back to school March 30.
I can tell you as my county was one of the original 4, it was absolutely panic inducing when I received a message at almost 1pm Thursday afternoon that my child's school would close at the end of the day.  So far, though, most daycares have remained open.  And her cheer gym is offering day camps with smaller enrollment.
It was absolutely surreal to walk into the Arkansas Children's Hospital yesterday and find the lobby completely deserted save for the person in gloves and mask tasked with screening visitors at the door, a security guard, and an admissions receptionist.  All I was trying to do was drop off cards and balloons for our cheer gymmates who were in a car accident Saturday morning, not even trying to go visiting anyone.  I've never seen the parking lot at less than capacity or the lobby quiet, even when I have been there at odd hours.
Based on how quickly the situation is evolving, I would not be surprised if our governor starts closing or limiting government offices, bans travel, and follows Ohio with closing restaurants and bars.  Our first case was confirmed last week and that person infected at least 3 health care workers here.

[Aaron Brudenell]

Arizona is extending the border wall north of Yuma along the Colorado river and banning all re-locations from California. . . just kidding. 


We are (seriously, now) experiencing closed schools for the next 2 weeks by governor's order and that may be extended eventually.  Prior to that, the main universities and some community colleges made similar limited closures (some exceptions for certain students/classes) and instituted longer range plans to move to on-line instruction in the coming weeks. 

[Sean Daniel]

Texas has extended spring breaks and a number of colleges will complete the year online. And if you havent heard already, the CDC's new recommendation is to not have gatherings of 10+ people

[Kent Weber]

Out-of-state travel restriction for State of Nebraska employees was issued yesterday.  No end date was offered.

[William Best]

To add to this, we have now been placed on a minimum staffing assignment.  Only 1 or 2 people per section of the laboratory per day.  They are attempting to organize work from home assignments to try to be somewhat productive.  This is currently set to run for 2 weeks.


Stay safe out there everyone.

[Tina Wilson]

We are out for AFTE  St. Louis County just suspended travel through the end of May for employees.

[Amy Weber]

Ditto - we just got our out-of-state travel ban end date - no travel until June (if we are lucky and it doesn't extend further) 


This will be only the third AFTE conference I have had to miss...this is such a bummer but will rally for an epic AFTE 2021!   

[Marah Carney]

Working on changing a hotel reservation, but the dates for the conference have not been updated under the hotel's reservation system.  Any idea on when we can start that process?