A new set of preventative measures amid the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 has students in London facing class cancellations.

Classes at Western University will be cancelled until Tuesday, Mar. 17, university president Alan Shepard said in a statement Thursday night.

Any exams scheduled during the timeline will be rescheduled, he added. Classes will resume Wednesday, but will be conducted online for the remainder of the term.

Western affiliate King’s University College announced it would follow suit. Brescia University College also cancelled classes on Friday and said it will likely “follow Western regarding further class cancellations and movement to online format in most programs,” but added that an official decision will be shared on Friday.

Huron University College, Western’s third affiliate, has not released an update regarding cancellations on Friday.

A page on Huron’s website that’s dedicated to providing coronavirus updates provides a link to Western’s announcement “for the most up-to-date information,” but Global News has reached out to the school for confirmation.

Shepard said the university will remain open amid the cancellations.

“Facilities such as the libraries, recreation centres, food services and health services all remain open. Research efforts will continue,” said Shepard. Residences will also remain open and operational.

Discretionary events on campus scheduled until May 1 are being cancelled, postponed or offered virtually, Shepard said.

The president added that Western is working on a contingency plan for final exams.

“More information will be shared in the coming day,” Shepard said.

In an update issued Thursday night, Fanshawe College said classes would proceed as scheduled on Friday. School officials said they plan to provide a further update later in the day. Fanshawe has not stated when that update will happen.

In earlier decisions announced Thursday, Western and Fanshawe both moved to postpone their upcoming March Break open houses.

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