PULLMAN — Washington State University announced Wednesday it will transition all five campuses in its system to online instruction in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.

In a message sent to students, faculty and staff, university leadership said the move will begin March 23, following the university’s weeklong spring break.

“Even though this is a WSU system decision, each campus or other location may have specific contexts that will determine some details of implementation,” the message read. “Any campus- or college-specific differences in implementation will be communicated separately by Chancellors and Deans in consultation with local public health officials.”

As of Wednesday, the number of COVID-19 cases in Washington climbed to more than 270, with 24 deaths, most of those on the west side of the state.

In an email sent Wednesday morning, the University of Idaho instructed faculty to prepare to transition their classes online as well. All classes will be delivered electronically on March 23 and 24 as a test, the message said, “With a significant possibility of classes remaining online for some time.”

The UI message said its locations would remain open through the change as well but noted it may discourage large gatherings.

Lewis-Clark State College will also test its online and remote class delivery capabilities for all of its face-to-face classes Monday and Tuesday. Campus will remain open during both days of testing. Business operations, residence life and all other activities will continue.

The Clarkston branch of Walla Walla Community College has taken steps to prepare for online delivery, if it’s needed at a later date, as the college closely monitors the situation.

“Faculty has begun considering what support they would need and what support they’d be able to provide for students should they be asked to provide much or all of their instruction online,” said Chad Hickox, the acting president of WWCC. “Should it come to that, we are confident we can meet the needs of the students and the community with relatively minimal disruption.”

WSU spokesman Phil Weiler said leaders with the university’s extension campuses will work in conjunction with their local health departments to make the final call, but it is conceivable that they would return to face-to-face instruction relatively soon.

However, he said the residential nature of the Pullman campus makes it more difficult to reverse such decisions quickly.

“Not only do we have 6,000 students who live on campus, we have another 14,000 or so who are in apartments all throughout the Moscow-Pullman area,” Weiler said. “We will have to keep other things in mind as we look at what the end date will be — I think, practically speaking, it’s unlikely that we will return to face-to-face instruction here in Pullman prior to the end of the semester.”

Weiler said WSU campus locations will remain open for business operations through the semester. He said residential, health care and dining facilities will remain open on the school’s Pullman campus as well — noting for some students, the residence halls are their only practical home.

Weiler said students will be able to access classes from wherever they are, whether from the dormitories, the west side of the state or beyond. He said the move is intended to give students the flexibility to access classes conveniently while making their own decisions about how best to limit risk. He said many may choose to stay where they are even through spring break.

“Moscow-Pullman is currently not experiencing COVID-19 the way, for example, King County is, and so we wanted to be sensitive to the fact some students and parents may prefer their students to stay here,” Weiler said. “It may be frankly safer for them to stay here.”

Worried about how the shift will affect the local economy, Pullman city leaders issued a response to WSU’s shift to online instruction urging residents to continue supporting local businesses through the crisis. The release says the city will help connect struggling businesses to disaster loans through the Small Business Administration as they become available.

Jackson can be reached at (208) 883-4636, or by email to [email protected]. The Tribune’s Justyna Tomtas contributed to this report.