AUSTIN – The University of Texas at Austin has canceled a major event this weekend as fear over the spread of the novel coronavirus grows.
Explore UT, an annual event that would have brought thousands of prospective students to the downtown Austin campus for workshops and experiments, was scheduled for Saturday.
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Approximately 50,000 students, teachers, prospective students and their families were expected to participate.
The cancellation came about an hour after Austin city officials announced that SXSW 2020 has been canceled due to coronavirus concerns.
University officials sent the following statement Friday afternoon:
With the city’s declaration of a local state of disaster, The University of Texas has decided to cancel Saturday’s Explore UT event out of an abundance of caution.
This event is unique in that it brings thousands of out-of-town residents — including many young children — to campus, where they participate in high-touch, interactive, hands-on programs for hours at a time. It is distinct from other programs held on campus, including sporting events, which are shorter and are not hands-on or interactive.
In close consultation with local health officials, we plan to maintain all other programs, classes and operations, as we continually monitor the rapidly-changing situation surrounding COVID-19.