Virginia Governor Ralph Northam and Prince William County Schools Superintendent Dr. Steven Walts announced Friday their plans for public schools while the nation addresses the COVID-19 outbreak. 

In a statement released by the Governor’s office, Northam announced that he has ordered all Virginia K-12 schools to close for a minimum of two weeks between Monday, March 16 and Friday, March 27. 

“We are taking this action to keep Virginians as safe and healthy as possible, and to minimize exposure to COVID-19,” said Governor Northam, a pediatric neurologist. “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.”

Walts, who has served as PWCS Superintendent since 2005, announced in a Tweet that schools in Prince William County will be closed to students through April 14. According to the PWCS website, decisions on instruction and staff reporting to work in this time period will be sent out next week.

“Virginia will continue to explore and implement innovative approaches to provide meals to students who qualify for free and reduced lunch during this closure,” said Secretary of Education Atif Qarni, a former PWCS teacher.

According to the PWCS website, packaged breakfasts and lunches will be available at select locations throughout the county, and they will be available to anyone under the age of 18. Locations for the meal pickups will be provided soon.

These announcements come after Northam declared a state of emergency in Virginia on Thursday and President Trump declared a state of emergency on Friday.