SALT LAKE CITY — Substantial numbers of Latter-day Saint missionaries will likely return to serve in their home countries and many may see the length of their missions reduced in the coming weeks as church leaders continue to respond to rapidly changing restrictions brought on by the coronavirus.

Additionally, no new missionaries will enter The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ 11 missionary training centers around the world, the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles announced in a letter released Friday afternoon.

All new missionaries will be trained virtually, through online video conferencing. The church plans to send them to their assigned missions as soon as possible, the letter said.

Friday’s latest announcement from church leaders came after weeks of cascading decisions about mission restrictions where COVID-19 is either present or where governments are taking action to curb its spread.

Church leaders already had determined that nonnative missionaries would return home from more than a quarter of the church’s 399 missions. The 54 previously affected missions included 26 missions in Africa, all 23 missions in the Philippines, all four in South Korea and the only mission in Mongolia.

The church also temporarily closed its mission in Hong Kong.

Church leaders said the adjustments will be made because of the pace of developments in world travel.

“The rapidly developing travel advisories and restrictions that are emerging around the world present significant logistical and other challenges.” they said in the letter.

The decision about missions in the Philippines and Africa were made after new government restrictions were instituted in those areas.

Friday’s decision came one day after the U.S. State Department issued what Politico called an extraordinary travel advisory that urged Americans not to travel overseas and to return to the United States if possible.

The Level 4 travel advisory is the most severe warning the department can issue and apparently is unprecedented. Americans who cannot return home are advised to stay where they are and not cross international boundaries.

The letter did not change church leaders’ announcement from Monday that they would continue to issue new mission calls.

Read the full letter below: