‘Virus’ plea to students travelling to China
SEEK ADVICE, UNIVERSITY TELLS 4,940 CHINESE STUDYING IN CITY
ADVICE for students travelling to China has appeared on the University of Manchester website after the coronavirus outbreak claimed more victims in the country.
There are 4,940 Chinese students at Manchester, with some students expected to travel home for the Chinese New Year celebrations this weekend. The University of Manchester’s Occupational Health Service is telling students to visit the Public Health England website for advice.
A statement on the news section said: “Public Health England is aware of a reported outbreak of a novel coronavirus in Wuhan City, in Wuhan, China, which has been linked to a large seafood and animal market.
“The PHE has offered updated advice which should be helpful to travellers to the area regarding this as well as the ongoing avian flu risk.”
The University of Chester has taken more drastic measures to ensure coronavirus does not enter campus and has told students they will be held in quarantine if they head to China for New Year celebrations.
Students have been notified that, if they return to China for Chinese New Year, they will not be readmitted without a suitable quarantine period.
The World Health Organisation has decided against declaring the outbreak a global emergency for now.
Such a declaration can bring more money and other resources to fight a threat but can also trigger economically damaging restrictions on trade and travel in the affected countries, making the decision politically fraught.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the decision “should not be taken as a sign that WHO does not think the situation is serious or that we’re not taking it seriously. Nothing could be further from the truth. WHO is following this outbreak every minute of every day.”
Millions of Chinese will be travelling around the world for the Lunar New Year. Chinese residents are expected to take an estimated three billion trips during the next 40 days.