From a philosopher there:
News from Oxford probably rather similar to that from elsewhere in the UK and the US. The university and colleges are closing, and students are being asked to go home, if they can. If they can’t, they are allowed to stay in college, and I think catering and other services will be available for most of them (though they will have to eat pre-packed meals in their rooms – unlike at Harvard, where my nephew tells me he can eat in hall with others at a distance of 3 metres minimum!). We’re being asked by the govt. to avoid unnecessary social interaction, and to work from home. The university and colleges are following that advice, and my own college will be closing at 12 noon today. I will be able to gain access to my office after that time to collect books, etc, but I’ll need to do it via the porters and we’ve been told that there is no good reason for anyone except core staff to be working in college at present. All teaching and assessment next term will be online. I suspect Teams and Canvas will be the most widely used platforms for the former, but we don’t yet know about how final exams will work. My guess would be open-book exams via WebLearn. Decisions will need to be taken soon, as many students are understandably very anxious. I think what your London contributor said is right – the mood is becoming more sombre. But there are also signs that people are taking positive steps to keep up social contacts remotely. Things will probably continue to change quickly from now on, if the common view that we are about three weeks behind Italy is correct. We have significantly fewer hospital beds per person than them, and at present far too few ventilators (under 6000, though the govt. is frantically trying to produce more).
