Coronavirus (COVID-19) Updates

If, within 14  days of returning home, students feel sick with fever or cough, or have difficulty breathing, they should:

• Seek medical advice, calling ahead before you go to a doctor’s office or emergency room. Tell them about your recent travel and your symptoms.
• Avoid contact with others (self-isolate).
• Not travel on public transportation while sick.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when coughing or sneezing.
• Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds to avoid spreading the virus to others.
• Wash your hands with soap and water immediately after coughing, sneezing or blowing your nose.
• If soap and water are not readily available, you can use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains 60%–95% alcohol. Always wash hands with soap and water if hands are visibly dirty.

CIEE policy requires that grades are reported to students’ home institutions using a U.S. letter grade equivalent, and does not permit pass/fail or credit/no-credit grading. For the Spring 2020 semester, some of our international host institutions have made decisions to only grade using pass/fail marks. In those instances only, CIEE will report grades in alignment with what is reported by the host institution.Final authority for how credits or grades are posted toward a student’s degree program transcript rests with the student's home institution.

In order for the student's home institution to make appropriate credit transfer evaluation decisions, letter grades are CIEE’s standard reporting protocol, since transfer credit policies do not generally allow credit associated with grades of pass/fail or credit/no-credit to be transferred. Students should verify policies with their home schools if their host institution is only offering pass/fail grading.

The refund policy varies depending on the particular program in which a student was enrolled for Spring 2020, as follows:

Spring Semester Programs
If a student is provided the means to complete their courses online or through other distance learning method, and thus have the opportunity to earn the originally anticipated academic credit, there will be no refund. However, if student is unable to obtain credits because a means of completing courses from a distance was not offered or possible, a case by case program assessment will be made to determine refund.

Open Campus Block 2
Nearly all Open Campus courses may be completed online, so students have the potential to earn all anticipated academic credits and there will be no refund. However, if students are unable to obtain credits because a means of completing courses from a distance was not offered or possible, a case by case assessment will be made to determine any potential refund.

Open Campus Block 3
Students attending Spring 2020 Block 3, which will be offered exclusively online, have the potential to receive a fully registered load of academic credit and will receive a 20% refund (of amount paid, after any scholarship or discount was applied).

CIEE reviews flight reimbursement requests of up to $500 in change fees that an airline will not refund or forgive for roundtrip airfare to confirmed program location. A change fee is defined as the “penalty fee” that an airline may charge to change a ticket. Proof of the non-refunded fees must be submitted to CIEE demonstrating the change fees. CIEE will not issue reimbursements for differences in fare costs or new tickets purchased.

We recommend parents/students also do the following if appropriate:

• Many US universities and colleges are assisting their students with Change Fees for flights- please confirm with your university’s Study Abroad Office to see if they are able to assist.
• Students who purchased a new flight to return to the US instead of changing their original flight, please contact your airline for information on refunding the return portion of the original flight.

Government regulations will likely require that returning students be screened upon entry to the United States and they could face quarantine or restrictions on movement in the U.S. for 14 days. Students should connect with their family or school about how best to prepare to come into their living situation. Depending on individual circumstances, there may be local guidance available for returning travelers in addition to what the CDC has posted on their website.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - coronaviruses are a large family of viruses. Some cause illness in people, and others, such as canine and feline coronaviruses, only infect animals. Rarely, animal coronaviruses that infect animals have emerged to infect people and can spread between people. This is suspected to have occurred for the virus that causes COVID-19. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) are two other examples of coronaviruses that originated from animals and then spread to people.  

There are many types of human coronaviruses including some that commonly cause mild upper-respiratory tract illnesses. COVID-19 is a new disease, caused be a novel (or new) coronavirus that has not previously been seen in humans. For confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases, reported illnesses have ranged from mild symptoms to severe illness and death. Symptoms can include: fever, cough, and shortness of breath. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death. Pneumonia symptoms include dry cough, chest pain, fever, and trouble breathing. Pneumonia can be contagious and can be transmitted from human to human. 

COVID-19 has now been detected in numerous countries globally, after first emerging in China, including cases in the United States.  The virus itself has been named SARS-CoV-2, and the disease it causes has been named Coronavirus Disease 2019 (abbreviated COVID-19). 

Below please find several articles that help put COVID-19 into perspective

• The WHO just declared the coronavirus a pandemic. Here’s what that means., VOX
• Coronavirus: nine reasons to be reassured, The Guardian
• The Coronavirus, by the Numbers, New York Times
• Pandemic Panic? These 5 Tips Can Help You Regain Your Calm, NPR
• Smart Travel Planning in the Time of Coronavirus, Wall Street Journal
• What Actually Happens If You Get Coronavirus?, ASAP Science
• Updated World Health Organization recommendations for international traffic in relation to COVID-19 outbreak, WHO
• Just how contagious is COVID-19?, Popular Science 
• Coronavirus (COVID-19): What a Pediatrician Wants You to Know, Happy Kids, Healthy Kids
• Coronavirus ‘Hits All the Hot Buttons’ for How We Misjudge Risk, New York Times
• Even If You Have All The Symptoms, Your Doctor Won't Necessarily Test You For Novel Coronavirus, Women's Health
• Most Coronavirus Cases Are Mild. That’s Good and Bad News, New York Times
• Fear Itself Is the Biggest Coronavirus Danger, Wall Street Journal 

• Mapping 2019-nCoV, Johns Hopkins

There are multiple excellent sources for more information on COVID-19 available to the public including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, as well as the World Health Organization (WHO) website.  Information available on these sites includes symptoms, transmission, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment.   

• US Center for Disease Control
• European Centre for Disease Control
• US Department of State
• World Health Organization

Practicing healthy habits - particularly handwashing and disinfecting surfaces and objects potentially contaminated with germs – are the best ways to help prevent the spread of illness while traveling, at home, and in school.  CIEE is reinforcing these practices at every center worldwide and ensuring centers have an ample supply of hand soap available for participants and staff.  

The CDC specifically recommends the following: 

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.  
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth. 
• Stay home when you are sick.  
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.  
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.  
• Follow CDC’s recommendations for using a facemask:  
  • CDC does not recommend that people who are well to wear a facemask to protect themselves from respiratory diseases, including COVID-19.  
  • Facemasks should be used by people who show symptoms of COVID-19 to help prevent the spread of the disease to others.   
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.  
• If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Always wash hands with soap and water if hands are visibly dirty. 

There is no vaccine currently available and though there are many companies working on developing one, the process from development to approval and available could take months to years. The CDC does recommend that everyone gets a flu shot as no one wants to be dealing with the flu and have coronavirus at the same time.