Students in Cambridge, Massachusetts will head home for the holidays this week, but they will not return after New Year’s Eve. Harvard University has announced that it will transition to remote learning environments in January as the spread of COVID-19 continues to impact much of the world.
“Public health experts anticipate the increase in COVID-19 cases to continue, driven by the Omicron variant, which we have now confirmed is already present in our campus community,” a statement from the university reads.
Under the school’s current plan, students will take part in online courses for the first three weeks of the semester. During this three-week period, only a select group of students will be permitted to live on campus.
Harvard University will make the transition to online learning after experiencing an uptick in COVID-19 cases on campus. The Harvard Crimson reports that the university recently saw its highest confirmed-case count since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moving forward, the university will also consider implementing a COVID-19 vaccine booster requirement.
