Waikato University and Wintec close for one week due to Coronavirus outbreak

The University of Waikato and the Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec) will suspend face to face teaching for a week, starting from Monday.

The temporary suspension is to allow both educational institutes to prepare to move to a more comprehensive online programme delivery.

In an email to University of Waikato students, the University said that "From Monday March 30, all lectures will be video captured. Labs, workshops, and tutorials will be also set up to minimise contact and increase physical distances."

The University will remain open throughout the five day teaching suspension, with teaching still available for the fully online paper courses.

In a similar move Wintec said that the educational institute were preparing for the ongoing challenges of COVID-19

"This teaching break will give our staff me to prepare for more online programme delivery, allow for more physical distancing, and to be prepared for the situation if we have to close our campuses at a later stage," Wintec said.

"This break in teaching applies to all Wintec students and all Wintec programmes, and will occur for up to five days. We will progressively "turn on" programmes again when they are ready – which means when we have suitable model for either online delivery, or controlled face-to-face delivery that is safe and can manage physical distancing appropriately."

The suspensions come as New Zealand's total number of COVID-19 cases moved to 66.