Western Romania university suspends courses as coronavirus prevention measure

The Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca (UBB), in western Romania, will suspend its courses between March 11 and March 22 as a prevention measure against the spread of the coronavirus.

Besides courses, other activities that take part inside the university and involve gatherings of people will also be temporarily suspended. Among these are conference, book launches, lectures, workshops, sport competitions and performances.

Teaching will be organized online and the activities that cannot be held online will be rescheduled.

The university will continue the administrative and research activity.

“We did not record any coronavirus case but we decided to suspend courses as a prevention measure. The recommendation of the university’s board of administration was to have courses online, where possible, and, where not, to reschedule,” Laura Irimieş, a spokesperson for UBB, told Mediafax.

UBB has 21 faculties and some 45,000 students.

Several other universities in Romania announced they were suspending courses in the context of the coronavirus outbreak, among them the National School of Political Science and Public Administration (SNSPA) in Bucharest, the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest, the George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology (UMFST) of Târgu Mureş, the Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, and the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iaşi.

On Monday, March 9, Romania decided to close all the schools starting Wednesday, March 11, until March 22, amid the growing number of coronavirus cases in the county.

(Photo:Babeş-Bolyai University Facebook Page)