The University of Lincoln has announced that it will be moving to online teaching this week because of the coronavirus outbreak.
In an e-mail from the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mary Stuart, it was announced that the university would be taking the move to enable “social distancing.”
There are currently four confirmed cases of the virus in Lincolnshire but nobody within the university has tested positive for it.
Meanwhile, across the country, 1,372 people have tested positive for the virus and 35 people have died as a result.
The Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair another meeting of the Government’s COBR emergency committee today followed by a press conference where he is expected to set out the Government’s latest response.
In the email from Professor Stuart, she said that more information would be provided later today on how moving to online teaching would work for specific courses.
She said: “We will be communicating to all staff and students at the end of today on how this is going to work and what staff and students need to do going forward.
“As I have said the situation is changing quickly and making sure staff and students are aware of what is happening about classes is essential.
“To achieve this please monitor email regularly and look out for announcements from your School regarding class changes.”
The move comes as many universities in locations including Nottingham, London and Scotland also move to online teaching.
A Covid-19 planning group was established by the University of Lincoln last week to deal with all possible scenarios that could arise from the outbreak, and the Students’ Union is holding a daily internal planning group for the same purpose.
The e-mail from Professor Stuart added: “At the moment, as we have no staff or student who has tested positive for the virus, we are continuing to monitor the situation as we move to online teaching, and are developing the next stage of our contingency plans.
“As I say this is a rapidly developing situation but we are paying very close attention to what we need to do and I will make sure you all receive regular updates on developments.”