Dear Howard University Community,

As we approach Spring Break, the week of March 14-22, 2020, I am writing to communicate several updates regarding the globally spreading COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, and its growing potential to disrupt and impact international travel in the coming weeks and months.

Over the past several weeks, the US Department of State and the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have raised travel advisory levels and issued travel warnings for several countries, including; China, Japan, South Korea, Italy, and Iran.  The University has now placed a temporary ban on University-sponsored travel for students to those countries. 

If you are considering international travel this spring, we are encouraging you to monitor travel advisories due to the outbreak of COVID-19. 

Depending on your planned destination, please note that you may have to make difficult decisions to modify, shorten, or even cancel plans to ensure your own safety and timely return to the University.

In many countries and regions, there may be new entry and exit travel requirements, and possibly even quarantines implemented with very little notice during the coming weeks. These actions could severely impact your plans and/or delay your return home with personal cost.

Because this situation is likely to continue to rapidly change in the weeks ahead, we highly encourage you to check both the US Department of State (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories.html/) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel) websites to obtain the most recent guidance related to your travel, as well as for the countries that you may be traveling through.

We have assembled a team of medical and logistical experts at the University, and will continue to monitor coronavirus developments both in the US, and internationally, and will keep you updated as events warrant. While we remain prayerful regarding an expedited resolution to this emergency, we must continue to be proactive and thoughtful, prioritizing the safety and health of our faculty, students and staff. Thank you.

Excellence in Truth and Service,

Anthony K. Wutoh, Ph.D., R.Ph.
Provost and Chief Academic Officer