Omicron spurs Alberta post-secondary institutions to return to online learning in January
CBC
Post-secondary students throughout Alberta will be returning to classes in January without returning to campus as institutions prepare for an Omicron-driven surge of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The University of Alberta and the University of Calgary have both announced plans to move the majority of classes online for about three weeks.
On Wednesday, the U of A announced that it will remain online from Jan. 4 to at least Jan. 23, while the U of C said that in-person learning on its campus is expected to resume on Jan. 31.
"All open campus spaces will again be asked to respect physical distancing guidelines of two metres," U of A president and vice-chancellor Bill Flanagan said in a news release.
"This includes research spaces and laboratories, computer labs and study spaces."
The U of C announced similar precautions, noting in a news release that some practicum work, student services and research would continue on campus.
Other institutions that have announced plans to move to online learning until at least Jan. 21 include MacEwan University, the University of Lethbridge, the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT).
Most announcements came in the wake of Tuesday's sobering COVID-19 update from the Alberta government, in which new health measures were announced and citizens were urged to limit in-person contacts to minimize risk of the highly contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19.
The first case of Omicron in Alberta was announced on Nov. 30. As of Tuesday, there have been 1,609 confirmed cases of the variant.
Alberta currently has 6,045 active cases of COVID-19.
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