COVID-19: No in-person classes at Minnesota State for 2 weeks

ST. PAUL — In compliance with Gov. Tim Walz's COVID-19 emergency shelter-in-place order, all Minnesota State University courses will be taught remotely for at least two more weeks.

Previously, Minnesota State had planned to resume some in-person classes on March 30 or April 6. But in an email sent late in the evening on Sunday, March 29, Patricia Rogers, president of Lake Superior College in Duluth, told faculty, staff and students that the Minnesota State system on Sunday evening "received a directive from the Executive Branch that holding in-person instruction, even as we had planned with social distancing and CDC cleaning standards, should be delayed for at least two more weeks."

Rogers said that "about 90%" of MSU's instruction and student services had already been moved online. But for the remaining 10% or so, "face-to-face classes have been suspended for at least the next two weeks."

A few days prior, in a Thursday, March 26 email, Minnesota State Chancellor Devinder Malhotra said Walz had classified educational services as essential, therefore "the 37 colleges and universities of Minnesota State are exempt from this order."

Malhotra said some campus-based services would still be available, but on-campus staffing would be limited. Rogers in her Sunday email said campus service plans may be scaled further back on Monday, but that the university system is working to make sure students can access services like advising, financial aid, counseling and food shelves.

COVID-19 is a contagious respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus. As of Monday,  576 Minnesotans have tested positive for the virus and 10 have died as a result.

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Minnesota Department of Health COVID-19 hotline: 651-201-3920.

School and childcare hotline: 651-297-1304 or 800-657-3504.

MDH COVID-19 website:  Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) website .