University Centre, Colonel By Hall, 100 Marie-Curie, SITE, STEM Complex, Roger Guindon Hall, Vanier Hall, Social Sciences Building remain open
The COVID-19 pandemic has shut down all but eight buildings on the University of Ottawa campus. The University Centre, Colonel By Hall, 100 Marie-Curie, SITE, the STEM Complex, Roger Guindon Hall, Vanier Hall and the Social Sciences Building remain open as of Sunday.
The hours of operations for each of the eight buildings vary:
- University Centre: open 24 hours
- Colonel By Hall: 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., Sunday-Saturday
- 100 Marie-Curie: 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., Monday-Friday; 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday-Sunday
- SITE: 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday to Saturday
- STEM Complex: 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., Sunday-Saturday
- Roger Guindon Hall: Perimeter locked (front doors 1-2 and links unlocked 6 am – 11 pm)
- Vanier Hall: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday-Friday
- Social Sciences Building: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday-Friday
The U of O moved the remainder of the semester online (including exams) on March 18 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyone but international students and those with “exceptional circumstances” were forced to leave residence by March 22. All athletics/recreation facilities have closed, along with most campus food services.
The university’s Senate ruled last week to let each faculty make decisions about the conduct of their final assessments.
The faculties of social sciences, engineering, arts, and the Telfer School of Management have all approved optional pass/fail final course grading, but it’s still unclear how the faculties of education, health sciences, medicine, science, and law will approach final assessments.
The U of O announced earlier this week that summer courses would be held online. The school has also launched an emergency fund that students can access for financial support. It’s still unclear what the U of O’s plans are for convocation.
As of Thursday, there were 32 positive cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa but none confirmed in the U of O community.
The five most recent cases in the city are a man in his 60s who recently travelled to Spain, a woman in her 60s who recently travelled to Egypt and Dubai, a woman in her 40s whose source of transmission is still pending, a man in his 60s who recently travelled to Spain, and a woman in her 70s who was in close contact with someone with COVID-19. All are self-isolating or hospitalized.
Etches urge everyone to remain home and only leave the house unless necessary, such as for a weekly grocery trip. Premier Doug Ford has declared a state of emergency and the province has closed all non-essential businesses.
Across the province, there have been 13 deaths from COVID-19 and at least 837 confirmed cases of the virus as of Thursday, with eight labelled as resolved.
There have been at least 3,555 confirmed cases of the virus and 35 deaths across Canada.
Globally, COVID-19 has infected more than 510,000 people and killed over 22,000 since emerging in China in December 2019. There have been over 120,000 recoveries from the virus.
Read More:
- COVID-19: U of O offering online summer courses, emergency fund for students
- U of O asks non-essential research to scale down activities to limit COVID-19 spread
- Opinion: What cancer taught me about social distancing
Editor’s Note (March 27, 1:40 p.m.): This article has been updated to remove Morisset Hall from the list of buildings that remain open. The building was accidentally listed as open on the U of O’s website.
Editor’s Note (March 29, 11:30 a.m.): This article has been updated to reflect the updated list of open buildings on the U of O campus.
