After initially freezing appointments scheduled through April 5, officials have canceled all ongoing counseling appointments and closed the Mount Vernon Campus health center.

Officials are reducing Colonial Health Center operations to service only urgent or sick patients and emergency consultations during business hours to comply with D.C. health department guidelines, according to an email staff sent to students Wednesday. The CHC will remain open for crisis and emergency walk-in mental health consultations, and students looking for ongoing appointments should call the center for a brief consultation about off-campus resources, as licensing laws prohibit counseling over the phone, according to the email.

“We thank you for your patience and understanding as we work to address your continued medical, psychiatric, counseling and psychological needs during this time,” the email states.

The CHC will remain open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., but the Mount Vernon Campus health center will shutter for the remainder of the semester, the email states.

CHC visitors will be “triaged” at the front desk – patients looking for counseling services will be separated from sick patients in the waiting area, according to the email.

Sick individuals should not enter the center unless a medical provider directs them to do so, the email states. Existing CHC patients can contact the center to manage their prescription refills, according to the email.

Officials said last week that the CHC is following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to prevent the spread of the virus. The University announced Sunday that health care providers in GW’s medical enterprise tested positive for the virus and confirmed Wednesday the first student who tested positive for COVID-19.