Cal State Fullerton and Northridge institute online learning amid coronavirus outbreak

Cal State Fullerton announced Wednesday that it would suspend in-person classes and transition to online learning amid reports that students living on campus may have come into contact with a student infected with coronavirus.

The announcement was made by President Framroze M. Virjee via a university-wide email to faculty, staff and students. Virjee said the university would start to transition to online classes starting Thursday through at least April 26. This week UCLA and USC announced they were switching to online classes as well.

Cal State Northridge announced Wednesday that it will cancel in-person classes beginning Thursday and transition to virtual learning on March 23, following the school’s spring break.

On Wednesday, the Cal State Fullerton newspaper, the Daily Titan, reported that some students living on campus may have been exposed to the disease by another student during the past seven days.

According to the paper, the email, sent by the Dean of Students Hallie Hunt, instructed the students to stay in their rooms at all times and prohibited them from attending classes or visiting on-campus community spaces. They were also told that meal deliveries to their rooms would be arranged, according to the paper.

Chi-Chung Keung, the director of news media services for Cal State Fullerton, said the university learned that some students may have been exposed to the coronavirus while attending an out-of-state conference. As a result the students were told to stay in their rooms until the university received guidance from the Orange County Health Care Agency. As of Wednesday evening, all but three students were released from their restrictions.

“Each of the three students are in self-isolation off campus as a precautionary measure,� the statement read.

No details were provided about which conference the students attended or how many students were initially affected.

“To be clear, there are no presumptive or confirmed cases of COVID-19 at Cal State Fullerton, nor within the housing community. All of the students involved remain well and have not presented with symptoms,� Keung said.