Virus threatens higher education
St. Clair College said Wednesday it will likely cancel events in the near future, and is creating a backup plan in case it has to halt classes, as fears rise over COVID-19 on school campuses.
After universities in Sudbury and Michigan announced they are stopping classes, representatives of St. Clair and the University of
Windsor said Wednesday they are still in session.
But both schools have created “pandemic planning ” committees and are assessing the situation on a daily basis.
Waseem Habash, St. Clair’s vice-president of academics, said a student dance is among the events likely to be cancelled.
“We have a college event that was a dance that students were putting together,” he said. “That will likely be cancelled because it’s not the appropriate time to do it. There will be probably 400 to 500 students there, and they’ll be in close proximity to each other. That’s supposed to happen in a couple weeks, and we think that is probably something that will be cancelled.”
Ontario has had 41 cases of novel coronavirus, which can cause flulike symptoms. Five are resolved. The Windsor Essex County Health
Unit said Wednesday there are no known cases in this region.
Habash said leaders of the province’s 24 colleges have been in communication to “lean on each other for support” in the event that person-to-person classes have to be cancelled.
That might include one college sharing online courses with another school’s students if classes are shut down.
Laurentian University in Sudbury cancelled all in-person classes, labs and campus activities on Wednesday, making it the first university in Canada to take the precaution. Classes will be given online.
Laurentian made the announcement the same day the City of Sudbury announced its first case of COVID-19, the illness caused by a novel coronavirus strain originating in Wuhan, China. COVID-19 has been blamed for more than 4,200 deaths worldwide, including one in Canada.
Michigan State University also said Wednesday it is cancelling all in-person classes after two cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Michigan, including one possibly linked to the campus. The cases are in Wayne and Oakland counties.
“We’re taking every step that we can to mitigate the virus spread and keep Michiganders safe,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Tuesday while announcing the two cases discovered in the Detroit area.
“I’ve signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency in order to maximize our efforts and assist local governments and officials to slow the spread. It’s crucial that Michiganders continue to take preventative measures.”
Since a now-resolved case of COVID -19 in a Western University student in her 20s in late January, Southwestern Ontario has not had any active cases of the respiratory illness.
Classes are still on at Western University in London but the institution is monitoring the situation and plans are underway to move online if necessary. Schools in Windsor are taking a similar approach.
“The University of Windsor’s pandemic planning committee is meeting daily to assess the situation and is working closely with the Windsor-essex County Health Unit,” media relations manager Lori Lewis said in an email.
Habash said St. Clair will announce to students and staff on Thursday it is reviewing plans for “alternate delivery” of classes.
“Next week we have March Break,” he said. “Whatever we decide to do we can implement by the time we get back, if there’s anything that needs to be done or can be done.”
Habash said he’s not sure what the approach will be if in-person classes have to be cancelled.
“We don’t know what that looks like yet, but we are working on that plan,” he said. “That’s easier said than done. At colleges we have a lot of hands-on labs where students work with their hands. Delivering it online cannot happen. So if we do have to shut down, how do we recover students in terms of the labs?”
Last Friday, St. Clair also sent out communications to staff and students telling them to stay home if they have any symptoms.
“We’re following the health unit’s advice,” said Habash. “They advised essentially to inform students and staff not to go to hospital or to a medical clinic, to identify to us first that ‘I’m sick.’ Do not come to class. And we will connect them with the health unit.”
He said one of St. Clair’s next steps will be assessing what upcoming events might have to be cancelled.
“Whoever it is, they will be notified ahead of time and obviously we will discuss with them options etc.,” said Habash.
“This is a very difficult situation, so we don’t take that lightly. We would have to make sure that proper communication happens with the group, the individuals.”
While the Windsor Essex County Health Unit said Wednesday the overall risk for people in the region is low, it is still warning event organizers to take preventive steps.
“The WECHU is recommending that organizers use discretion when planning large public gatherings such as religious events, conferences, or large social gatherings,” the health unit said in a statement on its website.
“Event organizers and participants should be diligent to practise and promote routine infection prevention and control measures including good personal health habits such as hand washing and ensuring access to washrooms with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer.”
Western University president Alan Shepard said in a statement Wednesday “there has also been no indication from Middlesex-london Health Unit that classes should be cancelled.”
“That said, planning is well underway to provide flexible options should Western need to move to online-only learning,” he said.
Western is assessing whether its March break open house for prospective first-year students will go ahead this Saturday, Shepard said in a statement.
— with files from Postmedia News