UF announced Friday it will not approve or reimburse future student and employee trips to China until further notice due to the coronavirus.
The email also said any faculty and staff who had plans to visit China in coming weeks have canceled their plans. Several people who were registered with the UF International Center for trips to China had their trips canceled, said UF spokesperson Steve Orlando.
Orlando said he does not know how many trips in total were canceled, because not all students register with the International Center.
Mabel Cardec, a spokesperson for the International Center, declined to comment on the trip cancellations. She said the International Center acts in accordance with UF’s statements.
“Like every other university and hospital in the country, we are taking all appropriate precautions and continuously engaged in important conversations to ensure the health and safety of the university community,” according to UF’s statement.
It is not known if or when some of the trips to China will be rescheduled. There are currently no students in China, Orlando said.
Any trips planned for China outside of the International Center after Friday will have to be paid out of pocket, and they will not be reimbursed. Orlando said he is not sure if trips planned before Friday will be reimbursed.
“I’m certain the International Center will work out some other kinds of arrangements for them,” he said.
The World Health Organization declared the virus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern Thursday. The virus has infected more than 9,800 people globally, with six being in the United States. The United States issued a Level 4 travel advisory for China on Friday, telling people not to travel to the country.
But in the U.S., the flu caused an estimated 35,520,883 illnesses from 2018 to 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It also caused an estimated 34,157 deaths. The World Health Organization estimates that each year there are 1 billion cases of the flu worldwide, of which 3 million to 5 million are severe.
UF has been monitoring four people who traveled to China, but the threat level is relatively low. None of the people traveled to Wuhan, China. There are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Florida.
Kaureen Randhawa, a 21-year-old UF finance junior, planned to visit Shanghai, China, in the first week of May. The trip was for the master in international business program.
“I understand they have to protect students,” Randhawa said. “I think they’re doing their job.”
Ana Portocarrero, director of the master of international business program, sent an email last week to Randhawa and others saying their trip would be moved to somewhere in Europe instead, Randhawa said. She said plans to go to Europe are tentative. She estimated that 50 to 60 people were registered for the trip.
Randhawa said the email stated that if a student could not go to Europe, they would be reimbursed.
But she hopes to travel to China in the future.
“Me and my friends were really interested in Asia because we had never been,” Randhawa said. “I’ve never been to Asia. That was on my bucket list.”
Contact Meghan McGlone at mmcglone@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @meggmcglone.
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Meghan McGlone is a UF junior majoring in journalism and English, and this year she’s the City and County Commission reporter. In past years, she’s served as the University Editor, the Student Government reporter, and other positions. Her favorite past time is eating gummy worms and reading a good book.
