All Prince George’s County Public schools will close beginning Monday, March 16. The University of Maryland will start holding all of its classes online that same day (The Diamondback has ongoing coverage here). And all Prince George’s County libraries will close officially on March 16 as well.

Among other local businesses, Art Works Now is suspending all programs effective Saturday, March 14, with the exception of Wheel Throwing Pottery. They hope to reopen on Monday, March 30.

A lot of things are changing quickly and there are more cancelations than we can keep up with and write timely articles on. That’s why we’ve created a special forum for the community to discuss and share information and ideas surrounding the effects of the coronavirus on the Route 1 corridor such as closings and cancellations, child care issues and other concerns.

You can click here to join the conversation and post your own topic to discuss. And we’ve made it easy for you to post; you don’t need to subscribe or become a member. We’ve also gone ahead and posted the first topic to discuss entitled “Coronavirus Closings.” Feel free to respond to this topic or post your own on an entirely different subject for discussion.

Dr. Ernest Carter, the county’s health director, advised residents to check the county’s regularly updated page on the coronavirus and take precautions to avoid contracting or spreading the virus.

More tips can be found on the Centers for Disease Control website here.

If you are an organizer of a local event posted on our Events Calendar that has been postponed or canceled, email news@hyattsvillewire.com to change or delete your entry on our public calendar. And if you are planning to attend an event listed on our calendar, please double-check that it’s still on before you go.

We hope you’ll find our new forum useful as a way to share and obtain information at a time of so much uncertainty. If there are other ways we can help, please share your ideas in the comments below.