BATON ROUGE - LSU announced Thursday it is moving classes online through the rest of the spring semester in response to the nationwide coronavirus outbreak.

A statement from the university said Friday will be the final day of normal classes for the spring. Classes are canceled through the week of March 16.

Online courses will begin March 30, the week after spring break, and continue through the rest of the semester. The campus will remain open, and all employees are expected to continue working.

Health officials have reported a total of 33 coronavirus cases in Louisiana as of Friday morning.

The school had released a statement Wednesday addressing online speculation that an employee had been exposed to the virus. A spokesperson said that individual was asymptomatic, and there is no reason to believe anyone at LSU is clinically affected.

"I recognize these actions may be a burden to some, which I assure you we considered when making these decisions. But it’s the right thing to do, and I believe it gives us our best chances at keeping our LSU community as healthy as possible," Thursday's statement read in part.

UNO, Tulane and Loyola universities have also announced plans to move to online classes.

You can read Thursday's full statement from LSU here: https://www.lsu.edu/coronavirus/messages/email/2020-03-12-update.php