FIU Employees Asked to Work Remotely Due to Coronavirus. Residents Asked to Go Home

Teresa Schuster/ Staff Writer

FIU is now asking employees to work remotely, and students living on-campus to leave by Monday at noon.

Libraries, recreation centers, and restaurants on campus will close or adjust their hours as well.

According to an email sent out yesterday, all non-essential employees will leave campus until at least April 4th. This follows FIU’s decision last week to hold all classes online until the 4th.

Students from Broward, Collier, Hendry, Lee, Miami-Dade, Monroe, and West Palm Beach counties living on-campus are expected to leave campus by 12:00 p.m. on Monday.

They are not required to remove all belongings from their rooms, but are asked to take anything they might need before they are allowed to return. If they need to stay on-campus they must request an exception.

Other students, including international students, are permitted to remain on-campus if they are unable to return home.

FIU’s libraries will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday. They will then close until further notice. Students who need to obtain laptops or hotspots to access their classes must do so by then.

There will be limited food options on campus to serve those who cannot return home. The list of shops open on campus and their hours can be found here.

FIU Health and the Student Clinics will see students on a by-appointment basis.

Recreation centers, pools, and social gathering spaces on both campuses will be closed until further notice. Students are asked to practice social distancing, and no guests or family members may visit them on-campus.

Florida announced 39 new coronavirus cases on Sunday. While there are no confirmed cases within the FIU community, an employee’s family member tested positive for it, according to the email.

FIU is encouraging all students and staff to avoid traveling and social contact to prevent the virus from spreading, and is quadrupling its cleaning schedule.

Updated information about FIU’s response to the coronavirus can be found at https://www.fiu.edu/coronavirus/

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