UNLV student self-quarantined; lecture canceled as precaution

A UNLV student went under self-quarantine this week after coming into contact with a person who was possibly exposed to the new coronavirus during recent travel, the university said late Wednesday.

The decision to self-quarantine was made as a precaution, and the student has not experienced any symptoms of COVID-19, university spokeswoman Cindy Brown said.

The university has had no reports of any students, faculty or staff testing presumptively positive for the virus, she said.

In an email to students that surfaced on social media Wednesday afternoon, a UNLV professor told students their lecture was canceled and that the student who was under quarantine had attended a lecture on Monday.

The professor told students the student in question learned about their contact with the person only after attending the lecture.

“I consulted the UNLV Health Center, and they said that the possibly of spreading it through class is very low,” the professor wrote. “However, I decided to cancel lecture today to prevent anything happening to you, even with low probability.”

Brown confirmed the email was authentic. She said the person possibly exposed to the virus is not affiliated with the university.

Contact Dalton LaFerney at dlaferney@reviewjournal.com or at 702-383-0288. Follow @daltonlaferney on Twitter.