Columbia, Hofstra cancel classes due to coronavirus concerns

NEW YORK - Columbia University has canceled classes on Monday and Tuesday and will conduct classes remotely for the rest of the week after someone connected with the school was quarantined as a result of exposure to the coronavirus.

Barnard College is following the same closure schedule as Columbia.

In an email to students, administrators say the suspension of activities was to allow for preparation to shift to remote classes.

The following week is spring break for the school so there are no classes scheduled.

The person in quarantine has not been diagnosed with the virus but the school is taking the measure out of an abundance of caution.  No other cases of current coronavirus are linked to the school.

The school had already issued a directive to "strongly discourage" non-essential events of more than 25 people on all of its campuses.

Later Sunday, Hofstra University in Hempstead on Long Island announced that it would cancel all in-person classes for the week after a student reported flu-like symptoms that day. That student had attended a conference where another attendee tested positive for the coronavirus. The Hofstra student and six others were asked to self-quarantine pending test results. The university's spring break begins Saturday.

Other schools in New York were canceling classes.  Scarsdale Public Schools, said in a statement Sunday night that it has closed down until at least March 18 after receiving confirmation that a faculty member at a middle school tested positive for the virus.

A Catholic school in Westchester also announced it was closing due to a student being quarantined due to exposure.  Gove. Cuomo announced on Sunday that more than 100 people in the state had tested positive for the virus but no deaths had been reported in New York.