Coronavirus delays Lehigh University spring semester start to Feb. 1

Lehigh University is pushing the start of its spring semester from Jan. 25 to Feb. 1 in an effort to control the spread of the coronavirus, officials said Friday.

“We are adopting a condensed semester in which students can remain engaged in coursework on campus and avoid travel to other regions,” Nathan Urban, university provost and senior vice president of academic affairs, said in a notice.

In addition to delaying the start of the semester, “the university will cancel Spring Break, previously scheduled for March 15 to 19,” Urban’s letter states. “We encourage students to stay on campus as much as possible once they arrive for the spring semester, as this will reduce the risk of infection and transmission of the coronavirus. We anticipate that arrival on campus will involve a COVID testing protocol, the details of which will be provided at a later date.”

The condensed semester shouldn’t affect the scheduling of final exams, final grades being posted or graduation commencement, the letter states. Additional information about the Spring 2021 semester will be shared in the coming weeks.

The Lehigh University COVID-19 dashboard as of Friday showed 54 students living in residence halls testing positive and 101 students living off campus testing positive.

University officials added restrictions scheduled to go into effect Friday and last until Oct. 23. Students living on campus must stay there, unless they’re going home or have an emergency or health issue. Students living off campus are only allowed to access the campus Health and Wellness Center.