Stay at home.

That’s the advice California University of Pennsylvania is giving students who become ill during spring break next week .

“If you experience flu-like symptoms during or after spring break, please do NOT return to Cal U until you have been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication. Staying at home when you are ill helps to limit the spread of illness,” President Geraldine Jones said in an announcement Thursday.

Students at the Washington County school who will miss classes due to illness should report their absence to the Office of Student Affairs and be prepared to contact their professors and make up any missed work upon their return, Jones said.

She said faculty members should contact their dean if they are not well enough to teach their assigned classes.

Her announcement came as colleges and universities across the region weighed a variety of moves designed to limit student exposure to the coronavirus that has sickened about 100,000 people around the world and killed more than 3,200 people as of Thursday morning.

This week, the University of Pittsburgh and Edinboro University canceled university-sponsored spring break travel. Pitt ordered students studying in France, Germany and Spain to return to the U.S. and self-quarantine for 14 days.

A week earlier, Duquesne University ordered students studying at its campus in Rome to return home.

University officials stress that they are acting out of an abundance of caution and concern rather than any reports of actual coronavirus infections among students, faculty or staff.

In Italy, where pockets of infection have been identified, the Italian government has ordered all schools and universities closed until further notice to limit the spread of the virus. Japan earlier closed all of its public schools in an effort to stop the spread of the virus there.

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