【To Students Travelling Abroad】Coronavirus Declared Public Health Emergency of International Concern

January 31, 2020

To students planning on travelling abroad during the winter quarter,

As of January 31st (JST), the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the People’s Republic of China’s Hubei Province has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also announced level 2 and above risk warnings regarding travel to China.
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【Warning Scale】

● Hubei Province, China
Level 3: Avoid all travel. (travel suspension recommendation) (continuous)

● Other regions of China
Level 2: Avoid non-essential travel. (evacuate)
It is highly likely that this virus will continue spreading, so please keep up to date with the latest information, and take measures to protect yourself from getting sick.
For the latest information on the number of cases etc., please consult the link below.

Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Alerts:
https://www.anzen.mofa.go.jp/info/pcinfectionspothazardinfo_009.html (Japanese only)
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In line with this, whatever the circumstances, we ask that students refrain from travelling to China during this time.

Reports of the new coronavirus have also arisen in other countries, and so we ask that students gather information on the areas they are travelling to, avoid crowds, wear medical face masks, and wash their hands thoroughly to protect themselves. If you do not feel well, please consult a medical institution as soon as possible.

If you do choose to travel, please purchase travel insurance and register to Tabireji (if you will be abroad for more than three months, please submit an “Overseas Residential Registration”). We ask those travelling on an exchange through TUFS to submit your pre-exchange documents, and those travelling privately to submit an “Overseas Travel Notification”, to TUFS.

○ Related Information
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announcement: “World Health Organization emergency declaration concerning the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Wuhan, Hubei, the People’s Republic of China”
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/newpage_09241.html (Japanese only)

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Quarantine Station website: “Concerning the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Wuhan, Hubei, the People’s Republic of China”
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/0000164708_00001.html (Japanese only)

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Overseas Safety Website: “Outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in China (raised infectious disease risk warning levels in some areas)”
https://www.anzen.mofa.go.jp/info/pcinfectionspothazardinfo_009.html#ad-image-0 (Japanese only)
https://www.anzen.mofa.go.jp/info/pchazardspecificinfo_2020T016.html#ad-image-0 (Japanese only)

World Health Organization Website: “Novel coronavirus 2019”
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

TUFS Student Mobility Center, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies