All Belgian colleges and universities switched over to ‘code red’ from this day, 29 October, on. The government -who initially reported that the new measures would come into force on Friday- decided that they could not wait any longer.

Thomas More’s managing director Stijn Coenen announced that the school will be organizing all its classes online starting this Friday until the 11^th of November. This means that students are not allowed to come to school anymore. Obviously, the autumn break starts next week. This break will give the school, the teachers and the students the time to adapt to the situation.  Monday and Tuesday after the autumn break, classes will still be online and the exams that were supposed to take place on these two days will be postponed. Since Wednesday November 11^th is a public holiday, the school will reconsider the measures based on the situation at that moment. They hope to be able to organize practical lessons and exams on campus by then.

Stijn Coenen heartens: ‘Let us not forget why we are doing this: we are helping to stop a virus that is putting unprecedented pressure on our health system and causing more victims every day. Let us support each other and help each other to survive in these difficult circumstances. Take good care of yourself and each other.’

Text: Claire Gevers, photo: ©Nathan Dumloa