On Monday, the University of Maryland made the decision to delay in-person undergraduate instruction until at least Sept. 14 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The semester will still begin Aug. 31, according to an email sent to students by university president Darryll Pines, but classes will be held online for the first two weeks at least.

“I know this two-week delay is disappointing, but it will permit us to phase in the resumption of on-campus activities and allow us to implement campus-wide virus testing,” wrote Pines.

Students will be able to move into their dorms during this time, but Pines is asking on-campus residents to “stay in their residences as a precautionary measure as much as possible through September 14.” Current projections estimate that the dorms will be less than 45% full, Pines wrote. The deadline to choose on-campus housing is extended until 12 p.m. Wednesday.

Late last month, the University System of Maryland (which includes the College Park campus) instituted a policy that mandates anyone returning to campus must provide university officials confirmation of a negative COVID test result from the last 14 days.

The University of Maryland’s plan is to soon begin free testing on campus for students and community members.

This announcement comes as the state, and particularly Prince George’s County where the university is located, has seen a surge in coronavirus cases since earlier this summer.

Pines cited in the letter that Prince George’s County positivity rate is 5.4%, which is the highest in the state and remains above the World Health Organization’s recommended benchmark of 5% for reopening.

“The prevalence of COVID-19 in the state of Maryland and in Prince George’s County remains higher than we had hoped for our fall return,” Pines wrote.

If the University of Maryland does move all classes virtual and online for the fall semester, the school would be following in the footsteps of other local universities. American, Howard, and Georgetown, George Washington Universities all made this decision in recent weeks.

University of the District of Columbia and Gallaudet University made the same call earlier in the summer.

Catholic University said it will only allow a “smaller cohort” of freshmen and transfer students to come to campus and take in-person classes, but most upperclassmen classes will move online.