Teaching at Lincoln University moving online due to coronavirus

This morning, students at Lincoln University received an email announcing the move to online teaching during this week, due to the coronavirus.

The University have said that the move will enable ‘social distancing’, resulting in a safer environment for students and staff to learn and communicate.

The email also reassured students that the spread of the virus in the Lincolnshire area is slower than in other parts of the country,  and went on to clarify that no one within the University has tested positive for the virus.

Four people have tested positive for Covid-19 within Lincolnshire, one of these people has already made a full recovery.

The University have assured students that there will be further updates towards the end of the day.

The email, addressed as from Vice Chancellor Professor Mary Stuart, read:

“As you know we have been keeping you all updated on government advice and providing links to resources at a national level regarding the Covid-19 virus outbreak. Government advice is that universities stay open.  However, I am very aware this is an anxious time for everyone and government and medical experts do not have all the answers to questions being asked as this is a novel virus.  I wanted to write more personally as I know this is not easy for anyone as we try to navigate the best way forward for our community.”

“I think it might be worth providing some context for you as to where we are in our county, Lincolnshire, as well as at our University.  Firstly, at the time of writing there have been 4 confirmed cases of Covid-19 across the whole county. One of these people has already fully recovered. In North Lincolnshire there are currently 2 cases. There are no cases in North East Lincolnshire.”

“Secondly at the time of writing no-one in our University community has tested positive for Covid-19. When you look at the spread of the virus, our part of the country has been slower to be affected.  We have been using this time to plan our next steps.  However, this situation is a moving picture and changing rapidly.”

“I want to reassure you that this week we will be moving to the next stage of our plans to ensure we continue to keep our community safe.  We are moving to teach online during this week.”

“We will be communicating to all staff and students at the end of today, 16^th of March, 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.”

“Moving to online teaching, or distance learning as it is sometimes called, will enable ‘social distancing’, meaning that we are providing a safe environment to enable staff and students to continue to communicate and to facilitate learning.”

“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.”

“We will be back in touch at the end of the day.”

If you are worried about coronavirus, you can get advice and information from the NHS website here.