Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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US Universities Bringing Overseas Students Home

Kathleen Struck

   A traveler trying to get out of Italy,where the coronavirus outbreak
   seemed to balloon overnight,described a scene where tourists and
   students scrambled to find a flight out of Florence.

   "It's a madhouse," said Joan Walsh of Massachusetts, who cut her
   Florentine tour short withherhusband,David Sibley, after the
   virusreportedlyhad infected more than 650 people and killed 17as of
   late afternoon Thursday.

   A handful of schools in the U.S. started bringing home students after
   closing their Italy programs this week. Many universities with programs
   around the world told VOA theywere waiting to see how the situation
   progressed. But several schools with study-abroad programs in China and
   South Korea, where the coronavirus has infectednearly79,000 andnearly
   1,800, respectively, have already shuttered those programs.

   Fellow students

   Walsh said she was joined in line by students from a few universities,
   including New York University and Syracuse University in New York. Some
   students found out Monday that they were ordered home; others were
   voluntarily leaving Italy.

   "We have made the decision to close the academic program at our
   Florence campus and assist our students with returning to the United
   States," announced Syracuse University on Wednesday. "Concerns for the
   safety, well-being and free movement of the 342 students in our
   study-abroad program in Florence, Italy, have guided this difficult
   decision, which was also informed by global health experts."

   "Kindasucks," Walsh said the students responded. Most said they
   wouldn't return until after spring break, later, or not at all this
   semester.

   After the English-speaking U.K., Italy is the second-favorite
   study-abroad location for U.S. students. In the 2017-18 academic year,
   nearly 37,000 American students studied there.

   "Theuniversity is working through the logistics of allowing these
   students to return to Fairfield University's campus no earlier than
   March 15, after our spring break, and resume classes on campus,"
   [1]Fairfield University in Connecticutsaid of its142 students returning
   to campus.

   "Students will have the option of both online and hybrid courses to
   ensure they remain on track toward their graduation dates," Fairfield
   said.

   'I was very worried'

   Jeremy Kleiman, in his final semester as a graduate student in chemical
   engineering at the Polytechnic University of Milan, stayed behind,
   saying travel was problematic.

   "Trying to get flights out of Italy isn't too easy right now," Kleiman
   said.

   Students faced grocery-store chaos.

   "Monday,the lines were huge, and all of the shelves were empty," he
   told VOA. "I was very worried."

   "The virus has spread to Iran, Italy, Japan and South Korea, among
   other places," Columbia Universitysaidonline Thursday. "Presently, the
   immediate health risk to members of the Columbia community is
   considered low. However, the potential public health threat posed by
   COVID-19 globally is high, so this risk assessment to our community may
   change."

References

   1. https://www.fairfield.edu/undergraduate/student-life-and-services/health-and-wellness/health-center/emergencies/coronavirus/index.html

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