Coronavirus: HNLU Raipur shuts till March 18, students to vacate today

NEW DELHI: Hidayatullah National Law University in Raipur, Chhattisgarh has closed its campus as a preventive measure against the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by novel coronavirus.

An order issued on March 11 by the registrar of HNLU Raipur says "the university is suspending its classes for students till 18.03.2020".

All students have been asked to "vacate the campus" by 6 pm on March 12. "For leaving the campus, the university will provide buses from tomorrow morning (March 12)," says the order.

However, it is not guaranteed that students will be allowed to return on March 18. The same order says that on March 16, "a review will be taken...by the university administration regarding the preparedness of resuming classes".

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India has 73 confirmed cases of coronavirus infections, 17 of them are foreigners. None of the Indian cases is from Chhattisgarh. Most have been reported from Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Preparing for Coronavirus

The HNLU Raipur administration had been preparing for a while. On March 9, it established a committee of "wardens, faculty members and SBA (student bar association) representatives...to monitor the situation of coronavirus (COVID-19) in HNLU campus". The 16-member committee was to "report any suspect/patient in the university campus to the university doctor, wardens, committee members and the administration".

On March 11, the registrar issued a notice to keep students and staff apprised of measures being taken and also tell them what they had to do. "Hand sanitizers and hand wash have been kept in the bathrooms of the hostels as well as in the dining hall of the mess. the students are advised to use them as per requirement for better hygiene," said the notice. "Masks have also been provided to the boys' and girls' hostel managers which will be given only to the students who are suspected of being infected with coronavirus (COVID-19) or having severs cough, cold and fever."

Reacting to outbreak

While some of the best-known universities in the US have gone online and cleared their campuses, Indian educational institutions, too, are taking extraordinary measures. Delhi Government has shut all primary schools till the end of this month; Jammu and Kashmir have shut all schools as well, reported Mint . Aligarh Muslim University has postponed exams for its distance learning students; Indian Institute of Management – Bangalore, IIMB , has postponed its convocation. the Indian government, meanwhile, suspended practically all visas and airlines grounded flights.

The World Health Organisation has declared a coronavirus pandemic. Thursday also brought reports of Hollywood actor Tom Hanks and basketball star Rudy Gobert testing positive. The National Basketball Association subsequently cancelled the basketball season altogether.

NBA To Suspend Season Following Tonight's Games pic.twitter.com/2PTx2fkLlW

— NBA (@NBA) March 12, 2020

Also read:

• Coronavirus: Universities in the US shift to online classrooms
• Coronavirus: UNICEF, WHO, IFRC jointly issue advisory for schools

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