About 65 people from Ottawa families at-risk of contracting the novel coronavirus are moving into a University of Ottawa residence downtown starting on Monday, after the school said it agreed to a request from the City of Ottawa to house them.

“Our teams have collaborated together with energy and agility to support the community in these difficult times,” said Marc-Antoine Joly, the university’s associate vice-president of facilities, in a news release Sunday.

In the statement, the school said some of those 65 residents may have been exposed to people who carry the virus, which causes the illness known as COVID-19.

Others are showing symptoms of COVID-19 and need to be housed “quickly” so they can self-isolate, the university said.

The residents are moving into the school’s dorm at 585 King Edward Ave., located between Laurier Avenue and Osgoode Street, right beside the main university campus.

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The low-rise dorm wasn’t in use when the city reached out to the school about using it and facilities “performed the marathon task of cleaning and preparing the apartments” so the at-risk residents could move in Monday, according to uOttawa.

As of Sunday, Ottawa’s public health unit said there are 122 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the city, including two “institutional outbreaks” at separate retirement homes.

Global News has reached out to the City of Ottawa for more information about the arrangement.

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