Dear Colleagues,
The
health and wellbeing of the UMD community is paramount. With this in
mind, we are continuing to monitor the 2019 Novel Coronavirus and
implement precautions as necessary. There is still much we don’t know
about this outbreak and the virus — which the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, as well as health officials in China, are
working diligently to understand better.
In
light of the growing concern around this virus, increasing patient
counts, and airlines continuing to limit flights — I encourage you to
reevaluate any travel plans to China you might have in the near future.
The U.S. Department of State has also increased their travel advisory to
Level 4, which advises no travel to China.
Should you decide to move forward with upcoming travel plans to China, it is imperative you follow University policy, register your international travel, and review the latest travel advisories from the U.S. Department of State.
In
addition to this guidance, please know that the University has
suspended all student travel and education abroad programs in China for
the Spring 2020 semester. The decision is in accordance with
recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of State.
As
noted in the email earlier this week from Dr. David Worley (Director,
UMD Health Services), any person who recently traveled to Wuhan and has
cold- or flu-like symptoms or other concerns is encouraged by the CDC to
contact their health care provider to determine next steps of care.
Regardless if the eventual diagnosis is a cold, influenza, 2019 Novel
Coronavirus or something else, we want to ensure the best care possible
to help protect the individual, those they may have contacted, and the
broader community.
Please visit the UMN Health Alert page for continued updates, and review answers to frequently asked questions for more information.
Lendley C. Black
Chancellor
David Worley, MD
Director, UMD Health Services
