As COVID-19 fight intensifies McMaster asks students in residence to move out

McMaster University is asking all students living on campus to move out as more coronavirus cases appear in Hamilton and across the country.

"We are asking that students make their plans to move out of residence," David Farrar, the school president, said in a statement Monday evening.

It is still unclear what steps the school will take to support students.

"The details will be shared with residence students shortly, including directions for anyone who needs special consideration to stay in residence for an extended period of time," reads the statement.

McMaster's student housing consists of 12 different buildings that accommodate 3,578 people according to its website.

The accommodations are mostly co-ed environments which include solo units, units with a roommate or apartment style buildings where people have their own room but share a kitchen, washroom and living room with three to five other students.

Moving out will be especially difficult for international students whose families don't live in Canada.

While there is no mention of a move-out date on the school website or statement, a form on the online residence portal asks students to select a move-out time between Tuesday, March 17 at 4 p.m. and Saturday March 21. 

"I encourage everyone to focus on what we can do rather than on what we cannot do ... people are understandably nervous and worried as our lives are being impacted in unsettling ways," Farrar said.

"This is not the time to worry about having perfect answers."

The school echoed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's message from Monday, promoting social distancing by trying to have workers work from home whenever possible. It also recently suspended all in-person classes and exams because of the novel coronavirus.

The call to have on-campus students find other living arrangements comes after a previous COVID-19 scare on campus near the end of February.