Harvard University's Widner Library in 2007. Photo courtesy of Joseph Williams / CC BY 2.0

Harvard University is telling its students they should not return to campus once spring break ends after March 23 due to concerns over the coronavirus outbreak.

All in-person classes will be cancelled and conducted online, the university said. The university had previously suspended school-sponsored international travel.

Harvard students represent a large proportion of renters in Boston, Cambridge and Somerville.

The move comes after Boston Mayor Martin Walsh decided to cancel Sunday’s St. Patrick’s Day parade in Boston because of fears over COVID-19. Walsh said the city’s progress in containing the virus will determine whether the Boston Marathon is run next month

Amherst College is planning to follow similar protocols. Thursday and Friday classes this week are canceled, the school said, and all students except those who successfully petition to stay on campus were told to leave by Monday, March 16. Staff and faculty will remain on campus with regular work schedules.

Meanwhile, UMass Amherst’s campus operations “are ongoing without interruption,” guided by campus emergency operations professionals in consultation with UMass President Marty Meehan’s office and state and federal health officials, Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy wrote in an email to students and faculty.

“Campus decisions related to this rapidly evolving situation are made in this context and may differ in some cases from those of other institutions, including Amherst College, which announced today that it will move to remote learning after spring break,” Subbaswamy wrote.