The first week of the University of Oregon’s winter term will be exclusively remote or online, Provost Patrick Phillips announced in an email to the UO community Monday morning. 

Phillips said this measure will help to contain the spread of COVID-19, especially because winter term starts soon after the new year, and students will be returning to campus only a couple days before winter classes start. The extra week provides additional time for students to quarantine after returning to Eugene, the email stated, and for those in residence halls to undergo COVID-19 testing. 

UO will test all students living in the residence halls between Jan. 2 and Jan. 5. 

The announcement comes as the Oregon Health Authority announced another record for COVID-19 cases in one day over the weekend. The consistent record breaking case numbers prompted Oregon Gov. Kate Brown to lock down the state for two weeks beginning Nov. 13 — at least four weeks for counties like Portland’s Multnomah County. 

“This, of course, affects a minority of our course offerings,” Phillips said, “since many courses are already being offered in remote or online modes throughout the term.”

Outside of coursework being remote, Phillips said that the campus will remain otherwise open during week one, barring a statewide executive order from Brown.