After a spike in coronavirus cases a week into the start of fall classes at James Madison University, the college is switching to a mostly virtual format. With some exceptions, students are being asked to leave campus by Labor Day.

The Harrisonburg, Va., school is the first in the Commonwealth to transition from in-person classes to mostly virtual instruction after opening for the fall, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Since students returned to campus in late August, the university has reported more than 500 active cases of COVID-19, and some 55% of its isolation beds are in use. Self-reported cases totaled 120 Tuesday — the highest number since classes resumed Aug. 26.

“The university is concerned about capacity in the number of isolation and quarantine spaces we can provide,” university president Jonathan Alger announced Tuesday in a letter to the school community. “Protecting the health of our Harrisonburg and Rockingham County community — including students, faculty, staff — is our top priority, and we need to act swiftly to stop the spread as best we can.”

The school, which serves nearly 20,000 undergraduate students, will shift in-person classes to online platforms by Sept. 7 and will conduct instruction through mostly virtual avenues through September. The university will continue to offer on-campus dining, health, and other services for those remaining on campus. It will watch COVID-19 data in the coming weeks and alert staff and students by Sept. 25 about the possibility of resuming in-person classes Oct. 5 or later.

“We do not make this decision lightly, especially after all of the efforts on the part of so many people to make the campus environment safe for the return of in-person classes,” Alger writes. “All along, we understood that we might need to transition to online learning at any moment if circumstances required.”

The school, Alger says, has recently invested in the “technological infrastructure” necessary to offer “high-quality instruction” via online platforms.

JMU is one of several Virginia schools to see a rise in cases after beginning in-person instruction this semester.

“As we planned our in-person reopening this fall, we carefully considered the strength of the relationships that make JMU so special, the interactions between each of us that create such a caring and unique environment,” Alger writes. “We will all make a concerted effort to maintain and enhance those interactions and to stay connected so we can emerge even stronger as a community that has weathered this unprecedented time together.”