The statement, originally issued to Burn FM News, says that ‘University Medical Practice is temporarily closed this afternoon, to enable a clean of the practice, as a routine precautionary measure.’

The statement continues, ‘The practice will reopen tomorrow morning and patients will be advised if their appointment needs to be rearranged. We apologise for any inconvenience that may have been caused. Safety is our priority and we have been working to ensure there is no risk to staff and patients.’

A second-year student, who visited the practice this morning, described turning up to the practice to find it locked though there were people inside.

He told Redbrick, ‘We got their attention and a lady came out and told us it was shut because they had a suspected case [of coronavirus COVID-19] and they would be rearranging appointments at a later date.’

A piece of paper on the door of University Medical Practice stated that it was closed over an ‘unconfirmed coronavirus risk’ which meant the practice needed to ‘undergo a deep clean.’

When asked by Burn FM News whether this was over COVID-19, the University Medical Practice said, ‘We are not currently talking to external people other than patients about this but you will find out soon.’

In a tweet from the University of Birmingham’s official Twitter account, the University stated that ‘We understand everyone is concerned about COVID-19 but can confirm at this time there are NO confirmed cases amongst our staff and students.’

We understand everyone is concerned about COVID-19 but can confirm at this time there are NO confirmed cases amongst our staff and students. It is our policy to tell staff and students should we have a confirmed case 1/2

— Uni of Birmingham (@unibirmingham) March 11, 2020

The University added that they would communicate to staff and students were there to be a confirmed case at the University and that they would follow the advice of Public Health England.

This afternoon, the World Health Organisation confirmed that the coronavirus outbreak is a ‘pandemic.’

You can read the University of Birmingham’s FAQs for applicants, students and staff here.

Any student who believes they may have COVID-19 should not go to their GP surgery but should instead stay at home and avoid close contact with people. If you believe you have contracted the virus, use the NHS 111 online coronavirus service, which can he found here.