Bakersfield College announced that it was closing the school's campus as of Thursday, March 19th at 5:30 p.m.

Last Thursday the school announced the first wave of online classes would begin and most classes will continue on their regular schedules due to the coronavirus outbreak. Bakersfield College also reported all nonessential travel has been canceled and they are minimizing large events and gatherings.

In a statement, Bakersfield College President Sonya Christian said “As of today, not only are all of our classes and student support services online, but all of our employees are prepared to work remotely. The decision to close the physical campus was a natural evolution of moving all of our functions to the virtual world. Now, for the safety of our employees and students we are able to virtually shelter in place because of this epidemic without interrupting the core college mission of providing learning for our students.”

The statement went on to say "the college is set to begin a deep cleaning on its campus facilities starting at 4 pm today. Maintenance staff will sweep through each building, ensuring each facility is thoroughly sanitized before being shut down. This deep cleaning is another precaution the college is taking to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus."