Pennsylvania schools will stay closed for the remainder of the academic year, Gov. Tom Wolf (D) announced Thursday.

Wolf, in a video announcement posted to his official Twitter account, described the decision as a “critical step to take to protect as many people as possible” and added it was “not an easy decision to make.”

“Teaching and learning will continue. Free meals for kids will continue. Connections will continue. This virus has not stopped you from helloing your children to safely learn, grow, and know they’re cared about every single day,” Wolf said:

According to the press release, Wolf’s decision came in consultation with Secretary of Education Pedro A. Rivera and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine.

Rivera said:

While the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic and its mitigation efforts have created uncertainty in our schools and communities, today’s action to close schools for the remainder of the academic year provides school communities with predictability and understanding of the conditions under which they’ll be operating and serving students. As schools and communities adapt to the prolonged school closure, PDE will continue to work with our state, educational, and business and nonprofit partners to meet the needs of students.

Schools could technically begin their summer programs after the conclusion of the academic year, although Rivera stressed there are no guarantees. Reopenings “will be contingent on public health guidance provided by the Secretary of Health and stay-at-home orders issued by the governor,” per the release.

“We must continue our efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus during this national crisis,” Wolf stressed.

Pennsylvania had over 18,000 confirmed cases of the virus as of Friday morning. Last week, Wolf asked residents to wear a mask “any time they leave their houses” as part of the greater effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

His decision differs drastically from the position of other state leaders, like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. He recently signaled he remains sympathetic to reopening schools.

“We’re going to look at the evidence and make a decision,” DeSantis said on Thursday. “If it’s safe we want kids to be in school. … Even if it’s for a couple of weeks, we think there would be value in that.”