All St. Thomas classes will move online beginning Monday, March 16 until Tuesday, April 14, according to an email announcement from university President Julie Sullivan on Thursday.

Sullivan said there are no confirmed cases within the St. Thomas community.

“We know from watching events unfold in other countries and regions, however, that this illness can spread rapidly,” Sullivan wrote. “We also know that social distancing – limiting gatherings of people – can help to slow the spread of COVID-19.”

Students will hear from professors about specific online learning steps. The situation will continue to be assessed and the online period may be extended, Sullivan wrote.

Residence halls and dining will remain open. Faculty and staff are expected to come to work. Students who have to stay on campus may continue work, while students who leave campus should not plan to return for work until after April 14.

Winter championship competitions will continue and St. Thomas athletics will proceed as scheduled, Tommie Sports wrote in an update. All home competition attendance will be limited, and bus travel will be closely monitored.

“We will continue to monitor the developments surrounding COVID-19 and will remain deliberate in decision-making and communication as it evolves,” the statement said. “While these decisions are difficult, at the core of each are the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes, coaches, staff, community, and guests.”

All on-campus events involving 50 people or more will be canceled beginning Monday.

All university-related domestic air and overnight travel within the United States will also be restricted, a decision which will be re-evaluated on April 14. All university-related international travel must be approved by the provost.

St. Thomas was not the only MIAC or local university to respond to COVID-19.

The University of Minnesota announced Wednesday that all five campuses will be “suspending in-person instruction” until “at least” April 1. While students are encouraged to stay home and continue classes, “residence halls, dining services and other student services,” will continue. The University of Minnesota system will deliver all coursework through alternative instruction from March 18 to at least April 1.

St. Olaf College decided to extend its spring break by a week, which will run from March 21-April 5. Classes would resume April 6.

Carleton College canceled all sponsored off-campus study programs for the spring.

St. Catherine University put together an “Incident Management Team, the purpose is to get the decisions made that need to be made, coordinate any communication that needs to go out…” said President Rebecca Roloff in an email to the university Wednesday.

Macalester College decided to allow students who do not want to remain on campus to complete the semester remotely. The college also canceled classes from March 23-27, the week after spring break, to give faculty “time to prepare for remote learning.” During that week, all campus facilities will remain open and students will have the option to choose whether to return to campus.

Bethel University advised students when leaving for spring break to “take books and other resources necessary to continue studies from home or another off-campus location in case the need arises,” according to the University’s COVID-19 response website.

College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University announced students and staff coming home from a CDC Level 3 Travel “must self-monitor for 14 days before returning to campus,” according to the schools’ COVID-19 information page.

St. Thomas Academy, where the Tommie men’s and women’s hockey teams play, and Visitation High Schools in Mendota Heights, closed because a parent tested positive for COVID-19. The schools will be closed March 12 and 13 and will have spring break next week, March 16-20.

Burke Spizale, Rae Beaner, Justin Amaker, Sara Thibault, Jack Stanek and Emily Haugen contributed to this report.