LONDON, ONT -- The London Knights and the London Lightning seasons are on hold, amid a slew of cancellations and closures across southwestern Ontario.

Western University announced that classes will be moving online for the rest of the year on Thursday, with Fanshawe following suit on Friday.

However, Fanshawe says in-person classes will be cancelled for three weeks, aligning with the province's mandate for public schools. Online learning is expected to start March 23.

After that, Fanshawe will resume regular classes, but will issue updates as needed.

The local OHL and NBL cancellations come amid a sea of announcements from major league sports, including the NBA, NHL, MLB, and many other sports organizations, most recently, the PGA as well.

“In the best interest of the health of our players, member team staff, billets, on and off-ice officials, our great fans as well as the general public, we deemed this to be best course of action effective immediately,” said OHL Commissioner David Branch in a statement.

The news comes as preventative measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 are being put in place across the province and country.

Other postponements, closures and cancellations include:

  • Fanshawe College Polar Plunge scheduled for Friday postponed
  • Islamic Centre of Southwest Ontario  has cancelled all events until further notice
  • London Muslim Mosque is closing the London Islamic School for three weeks
  • The BMO Centre has announced it is suspending all league play but will remain open for field and room rentals
  • All programs and events at all London Public Library locations, including the Wolf Performance Hall, are cancelled through April 13
  • Budweiser Gardens has postponed its Jeff Dunham and Kane Brown shows and is asking patrons to watch for further updates
  • The Grand Theatre is suspending 'productions, events and rentals' to the end of the season
  • The Stratford Festival has cancelled performances up until May 2
  • London Public Library locations remain open, but programs and events, including at Wolf Performance Hall are cancelled
  • Stratford Public Library closing until further notice
  • Visiting hours at St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital now 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and there are new restrictions
  • Addiction Services of thames Valley postponing drop-in Supportive Information Sessions (SIS) Sessions
  • City of Sarnia March Break Day Camp at Lawrence House cancelled, hockey arenas and the Strangway Community Centre closed until April 5
  • Bruce Power's Visitor Centre closed
  • Bruce County March Break activities at libraries and museums cancelled
  • all public schools closed for an additional two weeks following March Break
  • The Thames Valley District School Board is also closing all buildings, child care centres and cancelling other classes
  • London police are not accepting in-person record check applications or in-person Freedom of Information requests

Please be sure to check that any event you're attended is still a go. Updates on city-run facilities can be found on the City of London website.

The Middlesex-London Health Unit issued a statement saying Friday marks a turning point in the COVID-19 response in Canada.

"Containment efforts - where public health isolates cases and contacts with the goal of preventing community spread - will continue, but they are likely to only slow the onset of a local outbreak. The goal now is to prevent as many poor outcomes as possible."

Health officials say halting mass gatherings - such as the cancellation of major sporting events - dramatically reduces the number of events where one person could potentially infect many others, but add that Ontario is not yet at the stage where all mass gatherings must be cancelled.

Meanwhile, London police say they are actively monitoring the situation, and will be restricting or modifying only some non-emergency services.

People are asked to avoid visits to police headquarters unless necessary, and be aware that visits or calls for non-emergency police attendance will involve screening questions related to COVID-19.

The London Transit Commission says additional cleaning of its bus fleet will be taking place on a nightly basis starting this weekend.

No positive COVID-19 tests in Huron-Perth

Fourteen people in Huron and Perth counties have been tested for COVID-19, but no one has tested positive.

The Huron-Perth Health Unit is asking residents to be more vigilant in their measures to keep the virus at bay, however.

They are recommending all gatherings of 250 people or more be postponed or cancelled, but say that does not apply to workplaces, yet.

The newly formed health unit is also recommending people postpone all non-essential travel outside of Canada, including to the United States.

Anyone who does travel outside Canada is asked to monitor their own symptoms for 14 days following their return. Children returning to Canada are being told to stay home for 14 days, to stop any potential spread of the virus.

The Huron-Perth Health Unit says they’ve been very busy this week, and are adding staff to deal with the influx of calls for COVID-19 information.