Update: Travel Guidelines Regarding COVID-19
Editors Note: This article is from March 4, 2020. For the most up-to-date information regarding 91心頭's COVID-19 travel guidelines, please visit our COVID-19 Travel & Visiting Campus webpage.
On 油March 1, the CDC issued a public statement,油, encouraging U.S. higher education institutions to consider油asking current program participants [on student foreign exchange programs] to return to their home country. After careful油consideration油with our health and safety partners discussed below, the 91心頭 has determined to continue with currently approved travel. 油
We will continue to closely monitor the spread of COVID-19 in countries where we currently have travelers and where registered travelers who are known to be heading in the coming weeks.油We take our health and safety evaluation seriously, and as part of that evaluation, we油assess CDC country-specific alerts, U.S. governmental guidance including the Department of State, information from our security provider, International SOS, and benchmark油with other U.S. based institutions.
Current University policy restricts all academic and business-related travel for students and employees to mainland China, South Korea, Italy油and Iran. Given the dynamic and fluid nature of the outbreak, we encourage travelers to continually check the Universitys油higher-risk destination list油for any new information.
The University evaluates a variety of information sources when considering changes to the travel policy, which include,油but are not limited to: 油
- An elevation in the CDC alert level to a 3 (avoid non-essential travel recommendation) for a specific country
- An elevation in the U.S. State Department advisory level for a country to a Level 3 reconsider travel and/or a Level 4 do not travel
- The host country or U.S. government and/or our security provider recommends evacuation or immediate departure for foreign visitors or U.S. citizens
Note that international travelers may face travel restrictions, quarantines油or additional border screening processes at any time, should U.S. or local governments enact such measures. It is difficult to foresee these changes, so we encourage travelers to continually monitor developments and plan accordingly.
The University will continue to keep a watchful eye for changes in the current situation and will communicate important updates with you in the coming weeks before programs depart.
Keep in mind that you and participants can contact International油SOS, our security and emergency assistance provider,油directly油any time to speak with a medical and/or security specialist to discuss the current situation and ask any questions that you may have. You can油contact油ISOS油directly油by calling +1-215-942-8478 and provide them with our member ID: 11BSGC000067.