Image copyright Getty Images

Queen's University Belfast will cease face-to-face lectures from Wednesday.

Laboratory sessions, tutorials and seminars will continue, unless otherwise advised, the university said.

Teaching will be provided online "to ensure that our students' education will not suffer unduly" during the coronavirus pandemic, it said.

Field trips have also been cancelled until further notice, and guidance on examination and assessment schedules will be issued.

Queen's said the current examination and assessment schedules remained at present but staff were "working hard to identify alternative forms of assessment should they be needed".

QUB also said it understood "a small number of students have been identified with Covid-19 symptoms over the weekend".

"Routine testing is now not being offered so there is no confirmation from health authorities," the university said.

"The relevant local areas in the university have been informed."

Other steps being taken by the university include:

• International students will not be disadvantaged if they wish to return home before teaching finishes on 27 March
• All indoor, non-teaching, events on campus attended by more than 100 people from 18 March to 30 April will be cancelled or postponed
• Outdoor events expected to attract more than 500 will also be cancelled or postponed.

The move by Queen's comes as Northern Ireland's health minister Robin Swann said that all options were on the table to tackle coronavirus.

In a lengthy statement, Mr Swann wrote that a social distancing strategy will need to take place over months, rather than weeks.

He added the coronavirus outbreak may be "the greatest societal challenge since the Second World War".

His remarks follow calls from some politicians for further steps - including closing NI's schools.

All schools and colleges in the Republic of Ireland have closed, but this is not the case in Northern Ireland.

Mr Swann said closing schools at this stage could be "counterproductive".

Special schools in Belfast have announced they will close indefinitely from Monday.

A number of other schools in Northern Ireland have also announced short term closures.

Eleven new cases of coronavirus were confirmed in Northern Ireland on Sunday, bringing the total to 45.