Penn State, along with several other Pennsylvania universities, will cancel in-person classes and move to online instruction over concerns about the spread of the coronavirus that causes covid-19.

Officials announced Wednesday that Penn State will start remote learning for all classes at every campus location beginning March 16 through April 3, with a plan to resume in-person classes April 6.

“The best mechanism for prevention based on advice from experts is social distancing, and unfortunately that is very difficult in a university setting,” Penn State President Eric J. Barron said in a statement.

The university will remain open to faculty and staff, but undergraduate and graduate students at all campus locations have been asked not to return to campus, off-campus locations and other housing like apartments or fraternities.

Residence halls and campus dining facilities will not reopen for the next three weeks.

The university will assist students who need help securing housing during this time or who do not have access to a computer or internet to complete online coursework.

Several other public universities in Pennsylvania, including Edinboro, Slippery Rock and West Chester, also announced changes to spring classes this week.

Officials at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, located about 50 miles north of Pittsburgh, announced Wednesday that spring break will be extended to March 29 for on-campus students only.

Online students will resume classes as scheduled March 16, the statement said.

Officials at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania announced Wednesday the school will extend spring break through March 20.

Face-to-face classes will be suspended beginning March 23 in favor of online-only instruction.

That announcement followed advisories officials at West Virginia University and West Chester University of Pennsylvania issued late Tuesday, announcing that both schools are moving to suspend in-person classes immediately in favor of online learning.

WVU President E. Gordon Gee sent out an email Tuesday advising students who left campus for spring break to remain at home until further notice.

Officials at West Chester, located in the Philadelphia suburbs, posted an announcement advising students now on spring break that classes will resume in an online format on March 30.

Earlier this week, officials at Carnegie Mellon University announced it would suspend face-to-face classes at its campuses in the Silicon Valley and Qatar.

Spokesmen at all of the universities stressed that no cases of the virus have been detected on their campuses and that they were acting out of caution.

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