Many universities and colleges in California have already closed down due to the Coronavirus, and now is the time for Cuesta College to do the same.

There are 9,221 students who reportedly attend Cuesta College. Governor Gavin Newsom said that gatherings of over 250 people should be cancelled or postponed. There could easily be over 250 people on the Cuesta College campus at any given time.

Stanford University, San Diego State University, San Jose State University, San Francisco State University, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, and many other colleges have all cancelled classes and shut down their campuses in response to the Coronavirus. Cal Poly has delayed it’s spring quarter and has suspended all athletic activities.

There appears to be no sign of Cuesta College cancelling classes or closing its campus yet. In order to protect the students, Cuesta College should cancel classes and close the campuses immediately.

At the time of publication, there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in San Luis Obispo county. It’s simply only a matter of time until Coronavirus appears here, if it isn’t here already.

Cuesta College should cancel classes sooner rather than later. Delaying the decision only gives the Coronavirus more time to spread and infect more people, which is in conflict with the safety of faculty and students. 

Other colleges have, and so should Cuesta College.