The following message was sent to all members:
The U3A Brisbane Management Committee started planning for possible suspension of classes several weeks ago, owing to the risk to U3A members from a potential Coronavirus infection. In the light of rapidly developing local and international containment measures, and in consultation with our Health Advisory Committee, the Management Committee made a decision this morning to suspend all classes, including those held in District venues, from Monday 16th March inclusive, until further notice. This is purely precautionary in order to protect our members.
As you will appreciate, we have not taken this decision lightly, but in view of the continuing spread of the Coronavirus, and the increasing risk of widespread infection, we consider that this action is warranted. The health and well-being of our membership must be our first priority in the current circumstances.
We fully appreciate that there may be some criticism of the decision to suspend classes at such short notice. But we can only reiterate that our decision is to safeguard the health and well-being of our membership.
The Committee will continue to update members in the weeks ahead, and classes will resume when it is appropriate and safe for our members to do so. We will inform members of the resumption in a timely manner.
We will be contacting tutors in coming days about ideas for possible "virtual classes', and we will communicate further information to members regularly. We will also advise District tutors on issues relating to their classes.
As we have over 4000 members, it would be helpful if we weren't flooded with replies, whether bouquets or brickbats. However, if you wish to raise specific issues, questions or suggestions, please reply to our Feedback address:
Our website will be updated with further information from time to time, so please monitor it regularly. We will look forward to welcoming you all back when it becomes possible.