prepare emergency protocols for campuses.

NEW HAVEN — As coronavirus continues to spread through the Northeast, Connecticut colleges and universities are promising preparedness.

John Nwangwu, a professor of public health at Southern Connecticut State University, said that avoiding large crowds is one of the best ways for laypeople to slow the spread of the virus.

“The key thing is slowing down the transmission by separating the sick from the healthy, because once you’re not able to do that then the incidents — meaning new cases — will keep going up,” he said. “If somebody feels sick, they should stay home.”

For thousands of Connecticut university students, though, home is in densely populated dormitories.

SCSU spokesman Patrick Dilger said the university has a plan.

“We have an emergency management plan with a specific section covering pandemics that is guiding us in our preparations for a potential occurrence of the COVID-19 coronavirus,” he said in an email. “We do have capacity to quarantine on campus and other measures would be enacted in residence halls and classrooms if needed. For now, we are emphasizing the importance of personal hygiene at work and at home.”

Stephanie Reitz, a spokeswoman for the University of Connecticut, said the university is tracking which students are returning from countries rated as Level 3 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — China, South Korea, Italy, Iran and Venezuela — and recording the date by which they arrive in the country. For 14 days upon their return, students are directed to remain off campus for “self-monitoring.”

“If someone in that group were to request student housing, the University would check by name to ensure they’ve passed at least that 14-day period before they would qualify for a room assignment,” Reitz said in an email.

University of New Haven spokesman Doug Whiting said 80 students and four faculty members who returned from a study abroad program in Tuscany have been directed to remain off the West Haven and Orange campuses until the conclusion of the university’s spring break on March 21.

“(N)one of the 80 ... have become ill or exhibited any signs of the virus,” Whiting said Thursday. “We are providing alternative academic delivery methods” such as online and independent study “for all 80 students while they are required to be away from campus so that their studies are not interrupted.”

Yale University spokeswoman Karen Peart said the university is following the guidance of federal, state and local authorities as well as staff experts on the implementation of “social distancing.”

“Given the fluidity of this situation, we are not operating under a strict ‘If A, then B’ approach, but will rather monitor developments carefully and take action as new circumstances warrant,” she said.

Leigh Appleby, a spokesman for the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system — which includes SCSU, Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, Gateway Community College in New Haven, Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport, and Northwestern Connecticut Community College in Winsted— said the system began planning a response in January.

“Since then, campus leaders have been working with CSCU staff to develop individualized plans to prepare for a temporary transition to distance learning, or alternative methods, if available and if it becomes necessary,” he said.

Part of that operations plan included a cancellation of all institutionally-sponsored travel to Level 3 and Level 2 countries.

“Students currently enrolled in international study programs in affected countries were advised to return to the United States. Upon their return, they will not be allowed on campuses for a period of 14 days, and are asked to self-quarantine during that period. Our colleges and universities have protocols in place to handle anyone presenting potential symptoms,” Appleby said.

Makenna Wollmann, a junior at SCSU, returned early from a study abroad program in Milan.

“They took our temperatures before getting on the plane (in Italy) and anybody whose temperature was above a certain range was put to the side for additional testing. If you had a normal temperature, you were put on a plane,” she said.

However, Wollmann said the panic around the virus in the U.S. far outpaces the way Italians feel about its spread.

“I definitely think people in the U.S. are more scared of what’s going on than everyone in Italy was. I think in this country it’s being taken very seriously compared to the general public in Italy,” she said.

Wollman said she is currently under self-quarantine for 14 days and has been asked not to return to SCSU’s campus until the end of spring break.

On SCSU’s New Haven campus, students said they don’t feel panicked.

“It feels like more of a joke” among college-aged students, said Kelsea Paradis, a junior. “If there are extra precautions we should be taking, we don’t know what they’re supposed to be.”

Sophomore Nicole Baral said her professors frequently remind students to wash their hands thoroughly.

Quinnipiac University spokesman John Morgan said the university has created a task force around coronavirus that meets daily.

Evelyn Gard, a spokeswoman for Gateway Community College, said the college is identifying “safe spaces” to be kept separate from high-traffic areas for individuals who feel they are exhibiting symptoms to quietly wait as they plan their response.

“Right now we’re sending out as much information as we can and everybody is hyper-aware. I think we’re on it and we’re going to continue to stay on it.”