THE University of Brighton will suspend teaching on Friday amid coronavirus concerns.

An email sent to students this morning told them lessons will be now be conducted online in a bid to limit the spread of the virus, called Covid-19.

However, the campus’s university buildings including its libraries, cafes, gyms, sports facilities, and halls of residents, will remain open “for the time being”.

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This came after the University of Sussex announced it would be suspending its teaching immediately.

A spokesman for the University of Brighton said: “University recognises that the coronavirus pandemic is a major cause of concern for our students, their parents and supporters as well as our staff.

“Our campuses will remain open but we are suspending teaching from the end of Friday 20 March and moving to remote learning for all taught programmes.”

The email sent to students said the move was a “precaution against Covid-19” and insisted that the university was not closing down.

Some students believe the measure should have been brought in sooner.

David Skinner, a first-year student who studies Computer Science for Games, said: “We are one of two universities in Brighton with over 40,000 students with a range of ages of students whom attend them both.

“With other universities already announcing moving to online lessons last week, we should’ve moved to them at the same time as well, especially since most international students are now returning home due to the travel bans countries are imposing.”

There have been no confirmed cases at the University of Brighton.

However, two cases have been linked to the University of Sussex.