In response to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, the University has issued further guidance to faculty, staff and students regarding travel to China.
In an email dated January 31, 2020, Minghua Zhang, Interim Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Kenneth Kaushansky, MD, Senior Vice President for Health Sciences and Dean, Renaissance School of Medicine, advised as follows:
Yesterday we sent a message alerting the campus community about the Travel Advisory from the U.S. Department of State. Today, based on the World Health Organization’s January 30th determination that the rapidly spreading outbreak constitutes a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern,” the State Department issued an updated travel advisory: “Travel Alert Level 4 Do Not Travel to China.” The advisory message explicitly states, “Do not travel to China due to novel coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China.”
Other information provided in the State Department’s announcement includes:
-Travelers should be prepared for travel restrictions to be put into effect with little or no advance notice. Commercial carriers have reduced or suspended routes to and from China.
-Those currently in China should consider departing using commercial means. The Department of State has requested that all non-essential U.S. government personnel defer travel to China in light of the novel coronavirus.
-In an effort to contain the novel coronavirus, the Chinese authorities have suspended air, road, and rail travel in the area around Wuhan and placed restrictions on travel and other activities throughout the country. On January 23, 2020, the Department of State ordered the departure of all non-emergency U.S. personnel and their family members from Wuhan. The U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in Hubei province.
As we continue to monitor, promote and adhere to CDC and New York State Department of Health 2019-nCoV-related recommendations, no requests for University-sponsored travel to China will be considered until these alerts are lifted, after which we will follow the review and approval process outlined in the January 30, 2020 email, which can be reviewed on the University’s dedicated 2019-nCoV informational page.
These policies are subject to change in response to guidance from health authorities, SUNY, and Stony Brook University. For the latest updates, please see the Coronavirus Information Page.
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