Carnegie Mellon University

COVID-19 Updates

Information and resources for the CMU community

Scotty with mask and vaccination bandaid
February 26, 2020

Coronavirus Update: Spring Break Travel Advisory

Dear Members of the Carnegie Mellon Community,

As spring break approaches (March 9-13) and with the coronavirus continuing to be a serious public health concern, we are writing to inform you of the new travel restrictions and advisories in place, and strongly recommend you exercise an abundance of caution if you are planning international travel over the break.

While a level 3 travel warning has been in place for China, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has elevated its travel restriction for South Korea to level 3 as well. Therefore, we are restricting all CMU students, faculty and staff from traveling to China and South Korea on official university business, and we urge those planning personal travel to these countries to reconsider such plans. Please note that at this time there also are lower level travel warnings from the CDC for Japan, Italy, Iran and Hong Kong. If you have international travel planned for spring break, please consider the very real possibility of additional travel warnings, travel delays, cancellations and even not being allowed to re-enter the U.S. for an undetermined amount of time. If you’re traveling internationally, please be diligent in monitoring the guidance of your local health authority.

To reiterate, at this time there are no confirmed cases of coronavirus at CMU or in Pittsburgh. We are continuing to monitor the situation and will provide updates when travel restrictions have been elevated, reduced or lifted. You can view updates on our Travel Risk Information Program website, and coronavirus updates are available 24/7 on the CDC website. These links and other important campus information are included on our central CMU-Alert site. For any questions about the university’s expectations, please contact Maureen Dasey-Morales, associate vice president for community health and well-being.

Our community’s health and wellness are our top priority. Please be vigilant about your personal health. Any student with fever and cough who has traveled to international destinations on the CDC travel advisories list within the last 14 days should immediately call University Health Services at 412-268-2157 for a consultation. If you are a faculty or staff member who has been to these areas within the last 14 days and are experiencing symptoms, you should immediately contact your primary care provider for guidance.

As a reminder, if you are planning to host visitors from impacted regions in the coming weeks and months, we strongly suggest you discuss your decision today with your supervisors or department heads. If you have questions or need advice about how to proceed, please contact CMU’s Enterprise Risk Management at drbc@andrew.cmu.edu.

Finally, we are actively making contingency plans to help support our community as this situation develops over the next several weeks and months and will continue to communicate updates as they are available. In the meantime, we know many in our community are concerned about the welfare of family and friends in their home communities who are impacted by the virus. We encourage all to seek assistance as needed and to be supportive of one another. Thank you for joining us in nurturing a healthy university community for all.

Sincerely,

Jim Garrett, Provost
Gina Casalegno, Dean of Students and Vice President for Student Affairs