Columbia University cancels classes for two days and will teach students remotely all week after a ‘school community member’ was quarantined for exposure to coronavirus
- Individual placed under quarantine but hasn’t been diagnosed with COVID-19
- Classes at Columbia canceled for Monday and Tuesday, university president said
- Students will be taught remotely for the rest of the week ahead of spring break
Columbia University has canceled two days of classes and students will be taught remotely for a week after a person at the school was exposed to coronavirus.
The ‘school community member’, who is now under quarantine, has not been diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus, university president Lee Bollinger confirmed in a statement.
Classes at the Ivy League school, in New York, will be suspended on Monday and Tuesday as the university ‘prepares to shift to remote classes for the remainder of the week’.
Mr Bollinger added that all ‘non-classroom activities’ such as research will ‘continue in accordance with the new travel and event restrictions announced recently’.
Columbia University (pictured) has canceled two days of classes and students will be taught remotely for a week after a person at the school was exposed to coronavirus
‘At this point, just to restate what is important to know, we do not have a confirmed case of the virus on campus,’ he said. ‘This action is intended to prevent the virus from spreading.’
The statement added: ‘I am writing this evening to notify everyone that, because a member of our community has been quarantined as a result of exposure to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), we have decided to suspend classes on Monday and Tuesday.
‘This suspension of activities will allow us to prepare to shift to remote classes for the remainder of the week. I want to emphasize that the individual who has been quarantined has not been diagnosed at this point with the virus.’
The school had already planned to be closed next week for spring break, which would mean students had been away from campus for a 14-day quarantine period.
It comes as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency on Saturday, following the action of California, Washington, and Florida.
The number of coronavirus cases in New York state grew to 76 on Saturday, up from 44 the previous day. At least ten of these patients have been hospitalized, Cuomo added.
The coronavirus death toll grew to 22 in the US today after a patient in Grant County, Washington, died as a result of the virus.
In a statement, Grant County Health District Administrator Theresa Adkinson offered her condolences to the patient’s family and friends.
Some 19 of the 22 deaths due to coronavirus in the US have taken place in Washington state, with the three others in California and Florida.
The United States currently has 554 confirmed cases of the virus.