HOUSTON — Two locations at the Houston Community College campus were closed Thursday due to potential exposure to COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, according to the college's Twitter account.
The school on Friday then announced all classes would be canceled through spring break.
In a series of tweets Thursday, college officials said the Fraga Academic Building and Coleman College were the locations of the possible exposure. Out of an abundance of caution, the locations were closed immediately until further notice.
It's not clear if the possible exposure was due to the same person or multiple people. It's also unclear if it was a student, staff member or visitor.
HCC said it is initiating immediate deep cleaning procedures.
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HCC's full statements
Friday, March 13, 2020
To minimize confusion from yesterday’s communications regarding the closing of Coleman College and the Fraga Academic Building, HCC has decided to cancel all classes today through Spring Break for students. Faculty and staff should coordinate with their supervisors and still report in for work today. The only exception to that is faculty and staff that work in Coleman College and the Fraga Academic Building. Those locations are still completely closed to all students, faculty and staff.
For students that had tests scheduled this weekend, we are working on a plan to reschedule tests. Students should wait to hear from their faculty as to a plan.
While classes have been cancelled, locations – except Coleman College and the Fraga Academic building – are open. We will be sharing a detailed list of services that are available in these locations for today, the weekend and through Spring Break. You can expect to see that come out later this afternoon.
As a reminder, next week is Spring Break. This means that classes will resume Wednesday, March 25. Faculty and staff are still required to report into work starting Monday, March, 23.
HCC will issue additional communications before Spring Break is over to indicate what, if any, changes will be made to the modal delivery of our classes starting March 25.
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Thursday, March 12, 2020
Possible Exposure to Coronavirus at Two HCC Locations
This afternoon, HCC’s COVID-19 Incident Management Team was notified of the potential exposure to Coronavirus at two of our campus locations. Out of an abundance of caution, these impacted locations are being closed until further notice. HCC is initiating immediate deep cleaning procedures. All students, faculty and staff at these locations have been notified and we are doing everything we can to address their concerns and questions as the situations described below evolve.
Possible Exposure at Coleman College
HCC was notified that an individual at our Coleman College came into direct contact with an individual that tested positive for Coronavirus. This individual just started showing symptoms consistent with the disease and has been placed into self-quarantine by the Houston Health Department.
We are working closely with health authorities and our partners at Coleman College to determine who within our campus may have been exposed to this individual. While the individual has not tested positive for Coronavirus at this time, we are taking these measures, as well as closing both buildings within Coleman College until further notice (CDC deep cleaning recommendations are being implemented to sanitize these locations). Therefore, the building will be inaccessible to students, faculty and staff.
All students, faculty and staff at Coleman College have been notified and we are working closely with them to make sure questions and concerns are addressed as we learn more. Should any of our students, faculty and staff at Coleman College experience any symptoms, we ask that they immediately notify their health provider and HCC. As a reminder, the following resources have been established for any self-reporting or concerns.
- Student Self-Reporting Form
- Employee Hotline 713-718-2300 or email at covid19.resources@hccs.edu
Possible Exposure at Fraga Campus
HCC was notified of an individual who has been asked to self-quarantine by a health authority. This person was present in Academic building at HCC’s Fraga Campus on March 11. Based on information currently available, we do not believe that members of HCC’s faculty, staff or student body have come into contact with this individual. However, out of an abundance of caution, we are closing the Fraga Academic building until further notice.
Faculty, staff and students in the building have all been notified and we are implementing deep cleaning procedures in accordance with CDC recommendations. Therefore, the building will be inaccessible to students, faculty and staff. Additionally, we are working closely with our partners at Fraga Campus and local health authorities to address this potential exposure and take any steps necessary to limit potential spread.
We are asking any students, faculty and staff at the Fraga Academic building to monitor their health, and if they experience any symptoms, immediately notify their health provider and HCC. As a reminder, the following resources have been established for any self-reporting or concerns.
- Student Self-Reporting Form
- Employee Hotline 713-718-2300 or email at covid19.resources@hccs.edu
We understand that the HCC community may be rightfully concerned about this announcements, but please know the safety and wellbeing of our students, faculty and staff are our highest priority. The measures described above are being taken out of an abundance of caution and as soon as we have any further updates, we will communicate them immediately.
