The University of Cambridge is the first British college to move lectures online for a full academic year as the United Kingdom grapples with the coronavirus pandemic.
The acclaimed university announced the move in a Tuesday statement, saying it is “likely that social distancing will continue to be required” for the academic year, which runs from October until summer 2021. Although some activities involving smaller groups might still be held in person, larger lectures and classes are slated to be virtual.
“Lectures will continue to be made available online, and it may be possible to host smaller teaching groups in person, as long as this conforms to social distancing requirements,” Cambridge said.
In the United States, universities are still trying to determine how they will handle the upcoming school year. The California State University system announced earlier this month that it plans to hold most of its classes online for the coming fall semester in order to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Other colleges, such as the University of Notre Dame, have taken a different approach, preparing to hold classes on campus with precautions. John Jenkins, the president of Notre Dame, acknowledged on Wednesday that some students may inevitably contract COVID-19 but said the school is prepared to handle potential outbreaks.
“What we have are facilities for isolation, for quarantining. … Some students may get COVID. That may happen. But we have the facilities to treat them,” he said. “As you well know, for young people, this is not a highly dangerous disease.”
The U.K. surpassed Italy with the most coronavirus cases in Europe this month. As of Wednesday, the country had reported more than 250,000 infections and about 35,500 deaths. Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled the nation’s first steps to ease its lockdown on May 10.
