BOSTON (WHDH) - Northeastern University students packed up their belongings and headed home Monday as the campus prepares to shut down for the semester due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Students have until 5 p.m. Tuesday to move off-campus while the university prepares to transition to online classes.
International students and anyone with concerns can petition to stay in the residence halls for an extended period of time.
The unexpected move-out date put in place in an attempt to stop the spread of the coronavirus has proved hectic for students and their parents.
“As things started getting crazy, her roommate’s mom actually texted me and said, ‘Did you see that they’re closing the dorms?’ and I’m like, ‘What!'” recalled Norma Sullivan, a parent of a Northeastern student.
This comes after university officials announced over the weekend that a student living off-campus had tested presumptive positive for the coronavirus.
Officials said the student returned from spring break on March 9 and has been in isolation in an off-campus apartment since March 12.
The Boston Public Health Commission is reviewing the student’s movements since March 9 and will contact people who may have been in contact with the student, university officials added.
Some students feel that forcing them off-campus could put other members of the public at risk.
“If we go back to our houses, like a bunch of my friends live with their grandparents and they might be tracking the virus back to their houses where they live with their grandparents,” student Alexander Chenette said. “I think it would’ve been safer to keep all the young people with the young people.”
Gov. Charles D. Baker announced Sunday that schools in Massachusetts will close for at least three weeks in order to try and stop the spread of the coronavirus.
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