Several Pennsylvania colleges and universities are delaying a return to campus due to rising cases of COVID-19, which has sickened more than 519,000 people in the state and killed more than 13,000.
Many schools made those announcements ahead of a push Wednesday from the state departments of Health and Education, which strongly encouraged all higher education institutions in Pennsylvania to use virtual education and delay their students returning to campus for the spring semester.
More than 6,200 people are currently hospitalized in Pennsylvania, and modeling shows hospitalizations are expected to peak here in January and February. That's a major reason state leaders are encouraging a delayed return to campus.