Coronavirus Travel Guidance Update

Published: March 09, 2020 | Read Time: 4 minutes

Visit go.suu.edu/coronavirus for all campus health updates.

On March 9, a campus wide email was sent to all faculty and staff informing campus that SUU Administration was closely monitoring the novel coronavirus, and that university-sponsored trips for the foreseeable future are cancelled, on hold, or subject to review by the newly-assembled Emergency Response Team.

Subject: Campus Health Notice: Coronavirus Travel Guidance Update

Dear Faculty and Staff,

We want to communicate an update on travel guidance and approvals as of Monday, March 9, 2020. Please keep in mind that the nature of the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak is fluid and changing daily and it is important that we all take steps to protect the health and safety of our campus community. We are in frequent contact with state and local health departments and will continue to follow guidelines and recommendations issued by the CDC and State Department. If anything changes in regards to the decisions and guidance below, the Emergency Response Team will send out an updated set of travel guidelines.

As of this morning, all university-sponsored international travel is still suspended until further notice. SUU is now strongly discouraging all non-essential university-sponsored domestic travel as well. If you currently have a university-sponsored trip planned, individuals and groups must register their travel plans with the Emergency Response Team via this form, so we have a situational awareness of where our campus community might be going between now and the end of May.

We invite you to carefully reconsider all of your travel plans due to the associated risks to your personal health, unknown travel complications, and possible restrictions that could keep you from returning to Cedar City. The governors of many states (including Utah) have declared states of emergency due to COVID-19 and we encourage you to avoid travel to those states in particular. But, more broadly, we encourage you to avoid nonessential domestic travel and seek alternative mechanisms to participate in conferences and professional meetings.

As you are reconsidering your travel plans, we invite you to review the following questions before making your final decision:

• Is the location you are going to a current “hot spot” with lots of confirmed COVID-19 cases? A good website to check for updates on the number of cases in your destination is the Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases map by Johns Hopkins University.
• Is the state you are going to currently under a declared “State of Emergency”?
• Is this travel required for your position/career? Would canceling this trip in some way negatively impact your career? Or, is the travel more for professional enrichment and development?
• Are there any non-refundable expenses that you’ve incurred? (While money should not be the sole determining factor, it is something for each individual to consider.)
• If possible, can you drive to your destination rather than go through busy airports?
• What is your current health status? Local health professionals sent us the following list of questions that they recommend you consider before making your decision to travel:
  • Do you have an autoimmune disease? Have you had surgery or an invasive medical procedure within the last 6 weeks? Do you have a compromised respiratory system? Do you have a chronic cough? Do you currently have a fever, cold, cough, or other illness? Do you have asthma? Do you have open sores, wounds or other injuries? Do you have diabetes? Are you a smoker or vaper? Are you experiencing shortness of breath? Are your immunizations up to date? What is your age?

If you decide to proceed with your travel plans, we would remind you of the following tips:

Please follow the CDC guidelines for current and up-to-date travel information.

• Practice good health hygiene during your time away.
• Wash your hands regularly.
  • Take hand sanitizer with you. Please use it frequently!
  • Don’t shake hands with people. If need be, bump elbows or fists.
  • Try not to touch your face, eyes, nose.
  • Avoid touching surfaces, railings, walls, etc. Use your knuckles to touch elevator buttons, light switches, etc. Open doors with your foot or hip.
  • If you need to cough or sneeze, do so into your elbow, or inside your shirt, or in a tissue. Dispose of the tissue.
  • Try to avoid others who are coughing or appear to show symptoms of being sick.
  • Avoid large groups if possible.

An unfortunate outcome of this institutional guidance for avoiding non-essential travel is that you may have already incurred some non-refundable costs for your trip. We would ask that you contact the professional associations, hotels, airlines, car rental companies, or any other vendor you may have paid money to and do your best to get a refund or voucher for future use. Any lost costs incurred will unfortunately have to be absorbed by each individual, individual department, college, or division.

SUU’s current information about COVID-19 is available online and you can access SUU’s COVID-19 information phone line at 435-865-8488 or email the Emergency Response Team at emergencyresponse@suu.edu should you have more questions.

Thanks for your understanding and patience as we work through this unique time.

Visit go.suu.edu/coronavirus for all campus health updates.

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Tags: Coronavirus

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