The 350,000 students who attend Chicago Public Schools, the third largest district in the U.S., will start the school year by taking all of their classes remotely amid the COVID-19 pandemic, school officials said on Wednesday.

The decision to go to all-remote learning came after the city saw an uptick in virus cases in recent weeks that made public health officials concerned about the implications of in-person learning, Chicago Public Schools said in a statement.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago Editing by Chris Reese) ((brendan.obrien@thomsonreuters.com; (312) 408-8561;))