Coronavirus and Study Abroad Issues

Parent Cafe
1

DD’s friend is in NYU’s study abroad program in Florence. She called DD sobbing a few minutes ago and said she was just told by university officials that classes had been cancelled for 30 days due to the Coronavirus outbreak and that all students should return to the United States immediately. She said the situation was quite confused and that the school officials didn’t have many answers, just advised that the students should leave Italy as soon as possible. According to the school’s website, there are 375 students in the program each semester. Hopefully the home schools will reach out to the affected students, but so far she has not heard from anyone other than the Florence officials. Her friend is worried about losing credit for the semester, also about the cost of returning home on short notice.

I expect we’ll see other programs affected throughout the world.

2

Here’s WFU’s message to its students at Casa Artom in Venice:

Dear Parents/Guardians of WFU/Venice: Casa Artom students,

Wake Forest has been carefully monitoring the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) since its inception. Following reports over the weekend of a number of confirmed cases in Italy’s Lombardy (i.e. Milan area) and Veneto region (i.e. Venice area), we are writing to share with you an update. In the Veneto region, local authorities have put in place the following restrictions (until March 1):

Closure of museums and other cultural sites
Suspension of demonstrations or gatherings of any type (including cultural, sporting, recreational, or religious events)
Closure of all schools at all levels and suspension of classes and school activities, including professional and university courses, with the exception of distance learning classes and medical or healthcare training
Suspension of educational trips within Italy or abroad
In response to these developments, our local staff have met with all WFU/Venice students. Students have been reminded to take basic precautions to protect themselves from the unlikely possibility of infection (i.e. wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds; when coughing and sneezing, cover nose and mouth with a tissue or flexed elbow; avoid touching eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands; avoid close contact with anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms; and anyone experiencing flu-like symptoms should contact on-site staff immediately and schedule an appointment with a local medical provider).

Likewise, students have been instructed to postpone any travel plans and to remain in Venice through March 1. Similarly, all course-related academic excursions have been cancelled until the restrictions have been lifted. Academic course delivery from the WFU resident professor will continue as planned. Local Venetian professors will deliver alternative/on-line assignments for the time being.

Though it is currently unknown how the coronavirus in Italy will develop over the coming days, as we are doing today, we will share new information and updates as necessary. Student health and safety is our number one priority, and we want to reassure you that we are actively monitoring the situation, following our emergency protocols, and making program adjustments as needed.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to let me know.

Sincerely,

David F. Taylor
Assistant Dean for Global Study Away

3

Your friend needs to contact the NYU folks for info. Each college is handling this differently, it seems.

4

Yes, agree. I’m not throwing shade on NYU. It’s a terrible situation for schools, students and parents. Another one of DD’s friends is in Greece and is worried as well.

5

With respect to washing hands with soap & water for 20 seconds, my understanding is that it is for 25 seconds with respect to antibacterial soaps.

Typical guideline, for example, is to recite the 26 letter alphabet after applying antibacterial soap & before rinsing.

P.S. NYU wants to minimize or avoid potential liability.

6

I must admit, I’m so thankful my daughter did her study abroad last semester. I was really encouraging her to go this spring for a variety of reasons, but she insisted on going fall semester. She was in Madrid, but she traveled all over Europe, including to Italy. Even tho Madrid is currently unaffected, I’d be a little nervous about my daughter traveling all over in current circumstances if she were there now.

What a nightmare for the kids in Italy. With the semester already several weeks in, it’s too late for them to head home and enroll in spring courses at their home institutions.

7

It may get much worse in Italy. NYU is doing the right thing, in my opinion.

8

My bet is the colleges will do their best to have students complete their semesters somehow.

9

As @thumper1 said, each school will handle things differently.

NYU’s program is spead all over Florence, and has 375 students living and being taught in different locations. They have a logistical nightmare and are doing the right thing IMO as well.

WFU’s is tiny, 14 students, and they and a resident WFU professor live and are taught in a villa on the Grand Canal. Local professors come to Villa Artom, but will teach online for now according to the school letter.

What a mess.

10

There was a kid on the news. He is stuck in a tiny village in China quarantined. Cal State Northridge is not going to give him credit. Something about the program being cancelled and he could not get out in time.

11

My daughter is in Rome for Spring semester. She left Venice just ahead of the situation there. We are very concerned but not sure exactly what we should do. There are several options: stay until May when the semester ends, leave early after Spring break in early April or … ? Anyone in the same circumstance and what are you doing?
Please lets not spend a lot of time on ways to wash our hands and do flu like prevention. We all have been informed of this many times.

12

Get out now. This is a very serious health crisis. And it is probably going to get much worse.

What if your daughter gets sick & is hospitalized ? Are you ready & able to travel to Italy with just a day or two of notice ?

13

There are worse things than having to fly home and take a semester off. I think that we could blame this on a “natural disaster”. It might be too early to be sure, but there is a good chance that NYU is doing exactly the right thing.

It does occur to me that a university is a pretty bad location if you don’t want to share viruses with people from all around the world.

14

Thank you for your reply. We cannot fly to Italy as my husband is in the risk group and I have health issues. We are still considering what to do.

15

@charlotte44 if it were MY kid over there, I’d want kid back on this continent…I’d feel horrible if kid got sick and I couldn’t get there. I’d worry about if airlines stop flights as they did with China. As it is…flights may be difficult to get with schools shutting down their programs. I agree with others above…it will get worse before better…

16

“Get out now. This is a very serious health crisis. And it is probably going to get much worse.

What if your daughter gets sick & is hospitalized ? Are you ready & able to travel to Italy with just a day or two of notice ?“

I wouldn’t worry too much about this unless she has some underlying health issue. The good news is that 80 percent of people who test positive for the virus don’t need much medical care. And this is true of an even much higher percentage of young people, many of whom don’t even know they have the virus because they have NO symptoms. (this is bad for the spread of the virus but good news visa vis her).

I would be more concerned about her being quarantined somewhere and unable to get home.

17

+1 @maya54.

18

A bit alarmist. Time will tell whether it is the right decision but I can understand a university’s decision to err on the side of caution.

No reported cases in Tuscany/Florence thus far.

And I echo the comments above that all reports indicate that symptoms are mild to nonexistent for young, healthy people.

That said, I have my own personal reasons for monitoring conditions in that area very closely right now. Not in panic mode.

19

For what it is worth, the British government came out with new guidelines today re: people returning from abroad. Here’s the piece that includes parts of Italy. With everything Covid-19 related, could be a moving target.

Source: Guardian

If you have returned from these specific areas since February 19, you should call NHS111 and stay indoors and avoid contact with other people even if you do not have symptoms:

Iran
Specific lockdown areas in Northern Italy as designated by the Government of Italy
Special care zones in South Korea as designated by the Government of the Republic of South Korea
Hubei province (returned in the past 14 days)

If you have returned from these areas since February 19th and develop symptoms, however mild, you should stay indoors at home and avoid contact with other people immediately and call NHS111. You do not need to follow this advice if you have no symptoms.

Northern Italy (defined by a line above, and not including, Pisa, Florence and Rimini),
Vietnam
Cambodia
Laos
Myanmar

20

Sometimes commonsense should be used despite those slow to react who advise a wait-and-see approach. (We know how that worked.)

It is just as easy and appropriate to label a course of action as cautionary or wise as it is “alarmist” or as a politically correct word such as “panic”.

Insurance companies understand. After SARS, insurance companies added an exemption in their business interruption policies which excluded coverage for viral and bacterial outbreaks. Why ? Because they involve too many unknown factors which make them incapable of acturarial assessment. In plain English, the risks are unquantifiable due to too many unknown factors.

Are insurance companies “alarmist” or engaging in “panic” ? Or are they taking a wise, cautionary approach ?

This is your child & this is a real danger with too many unknowns.