Update: Travel Guidelines Regarding COVID-19

Editors Note: This article is from March 4, 2020. For the most up-to-date information regarding DU's COVID-19 travel guidelines, please visit our COVID-19 Travel & Visiting Campus webpage.

On  March 1, the CDC issued a public statement, Guidance for Student Foreign Travel for Institutions of Higher Education, encouraging U.S. higher education institutions to “consider asking current program participants [on student foreign exchange programs] to return to their home country.” After careful consideration with our health and safety partners discussed below, the University of Denver has determined to continue with currently approved travel.  

We will continue to closely monitor the spread of COVID-19 in countries where we currently have travelers and where registered travelers who are known to be heading in the coming weeks. We take our health and safety evaluation seriously, and as part of that evaluation, we assess CDC country-specific alerts, U.S. governmental guidance including the Department of State, information from our security provider, International SOS, and benchmark with other U.S. based institutions.

Current University policy restricts all academic and business-related travel for students and employees to mainland China, South Korea, Italy and Iran. Given the dynamic and fluid nature of the outbreak, we encourage travelers to continually check the University’s higher-risk destination list for any new information.

The University evaluates a variety of information sources when considering changes to the travel policy, which include, but are not limited to:  

• An elevation in the CDC alert level to a 3 (“avoid non-essential travel” recommendation) for a specific country
• An elevation in the U.S. State Department advisory level for a country to a Level 3 “reconsider travel” and/or a Level 4 “do not travel”
• The host country or U.S. government and/or our security provider recommends evacuation or immediate departure for foreign visitors or U.S. citizens

Note that international travelers may face travel restrictions, quarantines or additional border screening processes at any time, should U.S. or local governments enact such measures. It is difficult to foresee these changes, so we encourage travelers to continually monitor developments and plan accordingly.

The University will continue to keep a watchful eye for changes in the current situation and will communicate important updates with you in the coming weeks before programs depart.

Keep in mind that you and participants can contact International SOS, our security and emergency assistance provider, directly any time to speak with a medical and/or security specialist to discuss the current situation and ask any questions that you may have. You can contact ISOS directly by calling +1-215-942-8478 and provide them with our member ID: 11BSGC000067.