This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes covid-19. ( NIAID-RML via AP )

7:22 p.m.

The University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College has postponed courses beginning Thursday, through at least March 30. The semester will be extended to accommodate for the stoppage of classes.

“Many UA-PTC face-to-face classes are hands-on and are not supported by the online learning environment, so we have elected to postpone classes until we believe it is safe for us to meet normally.” Chancellor Margaret Ellibee said in a college news release.

The college's announced is related to the presumptive positive case in Pine Bluff, although the connection is indirect. The college's announcement states, "a medical professional with a relationship to a UA-PTC employee at Little Rock – South site returned home after having treated the presumptively positive patient. Though the employee has shown no symptoms, the employee has been advised to self-quarantine at home for 14 days. A second potential case concerns a respiratory therapy student who treated a patient who is currently being tested for COVID-19."

— Emily Walkenhorst

5:45 p.m.

Students at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff must take their courses online through March 30, the university announced Wednesday evening.

Spokeswoman Tisha Arnold said she did not yet know whether students would be asked to leave campus or if dining services would remain available to them.

"Eleven nursing students participating in clinicals, two faculty members, and several are believed to have had indirect contact with the patient who tested positive" at Jefferson Regional Medical Center, the university's announcement states.

All university activities and employee travel are canceled.

— Emily Walkenhorst

5:26 P.M.

The University of Arkansas at Monticello will move all of its classes online tomorrow.

A UAM student reported having direct contact March 9 with the person who tested positive for coronavirus in Pine Bluff.

The school is also asking students to go home and stay off of campus, spokeswoman Ember Davis said. Students who need to remain in their dormitories can fill out a form online demonstrating their need, and the university will accommodate for those with a demonstrated inability to leave campus.

The university is working with its dining services contractor on a plan to provide those students who remain on campus with food, if they need it.

Students who don't have Internet access can work with their instructors on an alternative means of attending their courses, if they cannot do so online, Davis said. That could be submitting assignments on paper, she said.

— Emily Walkenhorst

3:20 P.M.

Pulaski Academy in Little Rock closed its campus Wednesday after a parent, who is a physician, reported he or she had come into contact with the first presumptive coronavirus patient in Arkansas.

The parent picked up their second-grade student Wednesday afternoon, according to a news release, and the family will be under a 14-day self-quarantine.

Pulaski Academy will remain closed through Friday as the campus is deep-cleaned “out of an abundance of caution,” according to the release. All school-related activities, on or off campus, are also canceled until further notice.

The school said it will remain in contact with the state Department of Health and communicate with families about online learning arrangements.

— Nyssa Kruse

2:15 P.M.

Southeast Arkansas College spokesman Cordell Jordan said the campus closed at noon on Wednesday. It hadn't been determined when it will reopen.

— Andy Davis

1:30 P.M.

Faculty members and instructors at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville are being told they need to prepare to be ready by no later than March 30 for a shift to remote methods of instruction.

On-campus classes are continuing “at this time," according to an update today posted on the university’s website.

The message to faculty and staff within UA’s Fulbright College from Todd Shields, dean of the college, states that “at this time we do not anticipate campus will be fully closed, but we do anticipate that face-to-face instruction will be shifted to remote instruction.”

The move to remote instruction for the completion of the spring 2020 semester would include various online technology platforms as well as conference calls and email, according to Shields’ email, which was sent out today.

— Jaime Adame

1:23 P.M.

Southeast Arkansas College in Pine Bluff will close for a deep cleaning after three students were exposed to a patient at Jefferson County Medical Center who tested positive for covid-19.

The three students were performing clinical rotations at the hospital when they were exposed to the patient. The patient is the first presumptive case of covid-19 in Arkansas, though the state will send a sample to the Centers for Disease Control to confirm a positive test result.

The students will be quarantined until March 30, according to a news release, but they were initially unaware of their exposure and attended classes Wednesday in the McGeorge Building.

The entire campus will be closed Wednesday, the release states, and the McGeorge building will be cleaned in accordance with CDC guidelines.

The release did not clarify for how long the campus will be closed and whether classes will be canceled. A call to a college spokesman was not immediately returned.

Numerous colleges and universities around the country in the last two week have canceled classes or moved to exclusively online classes to combat the spread of the virus.

— Nyssa Kruse