Recently there has been a surge in confirmed cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Switzerland(210 confirmed cases until 6 March 2020). Commonly believed to be more transmittable and fatal than normal flu, COVID-19 has caused over 100000 infections and 3000 deaths around the world and should be considered as a great threat to the health and safety of students and staff members in ETH Zurich.

Since the incubation period of COVID-19 can be longer than two weeks, and medical resources in Zurich are limited, it's very hard to detect whether one is infected by COVID-19. Further there have been several confirmed cases in University of Zurich, whose location is very near the campus of ETH Zurich in Zentrum. Considering these facts, the spread of Coronavirus in the densely populated campus of ETH Zurich might just be a matter of time if the university does not take effective actions.

We ask president Prof.Dr.Joël François Mesot to cancel in-person classes in ETH Zurich as soon as possible for preventing the spread of virus on campus. Online recorded classes can be offered instead.

Similar actions have been taken in China, Italy, Japan, University of Washington and Stanford University.