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“In order to protect the safety and well-being of UCalgary students, faculty and staff, the university is taking this precautionary measure and will continue to monitor for any new developments and will adjust our protocols as required,” the school said in a statement.

The U of C is also helping to make travel arrangements for three of its members — an undergraduate student, a graduate student and a faculty member — currently in Beijing.

In Edmonton, the University of Alberta is similarly cancelling or postponing all non-essential travel to China. The school has two students currently studying abroad in China, but that they are each in regions unaffected by coronavirus and are known to be safe.

A spring break trip to Beijing for students at Webber Academy has also been cancelled. It’s the first time the school has ever had to cancel one of its trips abroad, which are part of its language programs, said Barbara Webber, the academy’s vice-president administration.

“We had 36 children signed up for that trip, as well as four chaperones,” Webber said. “A couple weeks ago we decided we wouldn’t be going because there were just too many unanswered questions, even if things improved right away.”

Photo by MATT HARTMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Travel Alberta, which promotes the province as a tourist destination in China, has suspended its marketing in the country until further notice.

“We are aware of some trip cancellations,” said Travel Alberta CEO Royce Chwin in a statement. “However, it’s too early to know what impact this will have on Alberta tourism. We are monitoring the situation and will keep in touch with our industry partners.

“We are asking partners to accept tour cancellation requests and offer refunds to Chinese visitors to assist them during a difficult time. This is an exceptional circumstance that goes beyond tourism.”

The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology tweeted that a “coronavirus-related” hoax took place on the school’s campus Thursday afternoon, with police investigating the incident.

“It looks like it was a prank that happened earlier with some people running through with Hazmat suits,” said SAIT associate director of communications Chris Gerritsen. “There’s lots of hoaxes around, there’s lots of disinformation around. In this time of heightened emotions around it, there’s no place for pranks like that.”

Hinshaw said she understands many Albertans may be feeling anxious about the health threat and said it’s important people get their information from reliable sources.