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While the university will remain open, events planned between Wednesday and Thursday were cancelled and other events are also under consideration.

“With a known-case of the virus in our community, we aim to take proactive measures to prevent the spread of this illness. We understand that changes in our day-to-day operations will create challenges and disruptions, however, we believe the risk of not taking action is of greater concern to our community,” said the statement.

Princeton, Columbia, Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA and Harvard are among the U.S. universities to announce that they were closing to prevent the spread of the virus in recent days. And Canadian institutions will face pressure to follow suit, says an expert in post-secondary strategic planning.

The closings could last anywhere from a few weeks to months. And there’s a chance universities and colleges won’t be able to open again for September, said Alex Usher, the president of Higher Education Strategy Associates, which advises colleges and universities in Canada and abroad.

Canada has been lucky so far, but it would be foolish to believe that luck will continue indefinitely, said Usher. All universities have some sort of disaster plan, but these are not based on a scenario in which up to half of the population is affected in an outbreak that lasts for an extended period of time.

He believes the next wave of coronavirus will come from the U.S. If that’s the case, within two weeks it will be more widespread. Post-secondary institutions will have to be prepared to wind down the academic year and conduct exams this spring, as well as consider the possibility that their campuses are not able to open in September.