Wednesday, March 18

March 18, 2020

Students receive daily copies of the planned Examen prayers in order to continue Jesuit’s tradition of reflection and contemplation.

School updates: As of today, Jesuit is extending digital learning until April 28th, tacking on an additional month of online learning. Both April encounters are suspended until June, and Grandparents Day is canceled. Spring sports are also deferred until school reopens.

Students also may have noticed Mr. Clarke still making an effort to allow students to stop and reflect everyday through the Examen prayer. Each day, Mr. Clarke sends the school an email with reflection prompts guiding students and faculty through the prayer.

World updates: As of Wednesday morning, there are currently 68 cases of COVID-19 in Oregon, a steep increase from Sunday’s count of 39 total cases. In response to the uptick, Gov. Brown has extended the closure of all public schools until Apr. 28, which Jesuit has followed as well.

In federal news, President Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the suspension of all non-essential travel between the two countries to contain the spread of the virus. While the temporary suspension’s timeline is still being hammered out via joint agreement, essential travel, particularly supply chains that involve the trucking of food, medicine, and fuel across the U.S.-Canada border, will be exempted from any border closure.

The Senate also passed the $100 billion House bill to provide paid sick and childcare leave, expanded unemployment insurance, and free coronavirus testing. That bill now heads to Trump’s desk for his signature. Senate Republicans are now working in coordination with the White House on a much larger, $1 trillion-plus package–known as “Phase 3”–that lawmakers and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin have suggested will provide $2,000 to individual adult Americans in separate $1,000 cash installments, with a cutoff at some point and lesser, fixed amounts for wealthier Americans. Other details of the unprecedented economic stimulus proposal, such as small business loans and affected industry relief, are in the midst of negotiation.