WWU moves online, but hundreds remain on campus amid coronavirus threat

Though Western Washington University has moved spring quarter coursework online for its 16,000-plus students due to the coronavirus pandemic, about 400 are expected to continue living on campus, the school said.

That’s only around 10% of the 4,000 students Western typically has living in its residence halls, university spokesperson Paul Cocke told The Bellingham Herald in an email.

A number of students who have elected to stay have no permanent home other than the residence halls, Cocke reported.

To adhere to social-distancing standards set by the university, Whatcom County and Washington state health departments, Cocke reported that students will have their own rooms. University Residences will be moving the students who are staying into housing on the South Campus.

The South Campus facilities, which include Fairhaven Complex, Buchanan Towers, Birnam Wood and New York Apartments, provide opportunities for more private bathrooms, according to the WWU website, as opposed to larger community bathrooms in other complexes.

WWU also will increase targeted cleaning and sanitation in those housing areas, Cocke reported, and just one of the three dining halls on the Bellingham campus will remain open.

According to Western’s coronavirus information page, the Student Health Center has had two positive test results for COVID-19 as of Monday, March 30. The center also has had 60 negative test results.