Businesses offer resources to accommodate students in wake of COVID-19 outbreak

The impact of COVID-19 closing schools has resulted in a plethora of resources and businesses helping college students impacted by the shutdowns.

At Kennesaw State, students will continue to have access to online advising, libraries, library computer labs on both campuses and tutoring, according to KSU’s Coronavirus Information and Resources website.

Both libraries are open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closed on Saturdays and Sundays, according to the KSU Library System’s website. Only the ground floor computer labs will be open.

Students enrolled in the University System of Georgia’s Student Health Insurance Plan can access free telehealth services through the United Healthcare StudentResources HealthiestYou program by Teledoc, according to the USG website. Students who do not have SHIP can use the services for $40 per session.

Texas Instruments has made several resources for students and teachers available with a free six-month trial, according to the TI website. These include the TI-Nspire and TI-Nspire Computer Algebra System apps for iPads. For Chromebook users, TI is developing a TI-84 Plus CE app to come in the next week.

U-Haul is offering 30 days of free storage for new customers with college IDs for those who are affected by universities closing, according to the U-Haul website.

Comcast announced that for the next 60 days, Xfinity Wi-Fi hotspots will be made freely available both for subscribers and non-subscribers, as well as offering unlimited data for no additional charge, according to the Comcast website. If a customer contacts Comcast and tells them that they cannot afford their bills, Comcast will not shut their service off or issue late fees.

Spectrum is also offering free internet and Wi-Fi services to new customers with children in pre-K through 12th grade or college students in the household while waiving installation or pre-payment fees, according to the Spectrum website.

UberEats and Grubhub have both suspended delivery fees on orders from independent restaurants and businesses. Postmates and DoorDash have started offering no-contact deliveries.

Joella’s Hot Chicken is now serving a limited menu with a 20 percent discount, as well as discounted orders for carry-out, delivery and drive-thru, all in addition to free kids meals and free DoorDash delivery.

Restaurants such as Chipotle and Kentucky Fried Chicken are also offering free delivery on orders placed digitally.

As many Americans are losing jobs right now, certain companies are looking to hire workers.

Domino’s Pizza is looking to hire 10,000 people across the country as delivery drivers, pizza makers, customer service representatives, managers and licensed truck drivers at supply chain centers, according to CNBC.

Aldi and Costco are also hiring people seasonally to deal with the demand for food and other products, according to letters each company posted shown on Twitter.

For more information on COVID-19, visit the World Health Organization’s website.