Penn State has canceled all in-person classes until April 3 out of precaution for the coronavirus pandemic, the university announced Wednesday. The plan is to resume classes on April 6 at the earliest.

The university will be open for faculty and staff, but all students at all campus locations are strongly discouraged from returning to campus or State College for the time being. Residence halls and campus dining facilities are also closed, but arrangements can be made to retrieve belongings. The university will work with international students and students with extenuating circumstances on an individual basis to make housing arrangements. Students should contact their campus Housing office for more information.

In-person lectures will instead be replaced by digital alternatives and likely rely strongly on already-utilized platforms like Canvas. These temporary changes will go into effect on Monday, March 16 after spring break. Arrangements will be made for any student without access to a computer or internet at home.

Additionally, all non-essential events will be canceled, rescheduled, or offered virtually until April 6.

“It remains our goal to take the necessary, active steps to confront this public health threat and manage our risks,” President Eric Barron said in a letter to the university community.

Penn State is the latest university to cancel classes for multiple weeks in an attempt to limit the spread of the coronavirus and sanitize facilities. Many universities around the country, including Ohio State, Rutgers, Indiana, and Michigan State have already done so. Fellow Pennsylvania universities Bucknell and West Chester have even gone as far as to suspend all in-person classes for the remainder of the semester.

So far, there have been 13 presumed and two confirmed cases of coronavirus in Pennsylvania. None have been found in Centre County, but with students home and traveling for spring break, this new policy seems to be taking a very proactive step as the coronavirus continues to spread throughout the United States.