(KAIR)--Atchison’s Benedictine College is closing its Italian campus, due to the spread of coronavirus.

According to Steve Johnson, Director of Marketing & Communications for the college, the Florence, Italy campus will close Friday.

All students currently studying at that location have been notified, with the college highly recommending they return to the United States. Once they do, they will be required to stay away from campus for 14 days, and will be advised of recommendations made available by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment on what to do during that time period.

The closure, and departure, follows the return of 14 of the 52 study abroad students late last month when coronavirus cases were reported in the Tuscany region, where Florence is located.

Those students, too, were told to return home and remain away from campus for 14 days.

According to Johnson, they are not expected to return to campus, and are being provided with long distance learning to allow them to finish their academics for the current semester.

The decision to close the Italian campus was made due to what Johnson says are potential travel bans, the continued spread of the virus in Italy, and the reduction of flights to and from Italy.

On Monday, Benedictine College President Steve Minnis created a Coronavirus Response Task Force to begin the process of preparing the Atchison campus if the virus spreads throughout the United States, and cases are diagnosed on campus.

According to Johnson, the task force is meeting everyday and evaluating a variety of scenarios.