Coronavirus fears: Missouri school cancels China trip, another brings students home

One university is telling its students in China to return home. Another canceled a planned semester at sea stop in China. And most of the universities in Kansas and Missouri are counseling students and staff on how to avoid contracting the novel coronavirus.

A suspected case of coronavirus was reported Tuesday in Lawrence. The patient is in isolation at LMH Health (formerly Lawrence Memorial Hospital) while an investigation continues, health officials said.

It was not clear Tuesday whether the patient, who was not identified, is a student at the University of Kansas.

In a note to its campus community, KU officials said, “The patient is not severely ill,” and reiterated that the patient is in isolation. The university offered tips to avoid spreading the virus, including washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds and avoiding close contact with people who are sick. The message also said KU would keep its students, faculty and staff informed.

KU has 2,031 international students on its Lawrence and Edwards campuses. The largest group — 737 of them — are from China.

World health officials report that more than 100 people in China have died from the virus, which is believed to have originated in Wuhan City. Cases have since been reported across the country.

Wuhan is about 333 miles, or about a three-hour train ride, from where KU sends its students who study abroad at Nanjing University.

Wichita State University’s Chinese student population is relatively small at 67 students.

“We don’t have very many students from that part of China so we’re not expecting any significant impact at WSU,” Vince Alum, executive director of International Education at WSU said in an email.

Wichita State sent out emails to faculty, staff and students about the coronavirus outbreak and has updated its website to provide updates on travel restrictions and recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health department.

Kansas State University officials said they are “taking precautionary steps” regarding the virus, and staff at the university health center are in contact with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the CDC.

The university has contacted “all students and many faculty who have recently traveled to China to inquire about any symptoms and inform them of what to watch for and precautions to take,” said Cindy Hollingsworth, university spokeswoman. K-State has 429 undergraduate Chinese students on its Manhattan campus. Officials were not sure of the number of graduate students.

University of Missouri said its students do not study abroad in China. But the university does have a study at sea program that was supposed to make a stop in Shanghai, China. But program leaders decided to divert from that stop and instead extend their stay in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Missouri State University had two student teacher assistants in China this year at Liaoning Normal University in Dalian, but an official said Tuesday those students would be brought home. The campus in China is shut down until mid-February. MSU also has a member of its faculty teaching in China this semester, and the university advised the teacher about guarding against the virus.

MSU has 500 Chinese students on its Springfield campus and education partnerships in multiple Chinese cities.

University of Missouri-Kansas City, which in 2018 had 158 Chinese students enrolled, does not have students studying abroad in China this semester.

Across the country, a number of universities are bringing their U.S. students home from China or ordering them to stay confined to campus.

For example, Duke University’s campus in Kunshan, China has suspended classes until the middle of February and restricted access on its campus there to only “essential personnel.”

The coronavirus spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Symptoms are thought to appear within two to 14 days after exposure and consist of fever, cough, runny nose and difficulty breathing. Those considered at risk for contracting the virus have traveled to Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, or were in close contact with a person infected with the virus.