ASU issues new travel, self-isolation guidelines in response to coronavirus

PHOENIX – With spring break next week, Arizona State University has issued new travel guidelines, including self-isolation in some cases, in response to the global coronavirus outbreak.

Anybody affiliated with the school is now being asked to undergo a 14-day self-isolation period upon return from an area classified by the Centers for Disease Control as being at the highest risk levels for the COVID-19 virus.

The guidelines refer specifically to Level 2 (Japan) and Level 3 (China, Iran, Italy and South Korea) countries.

ASU faculty, students, staff, affiliates and other visitors who visited those countries are now required to spend the two-week isolation period at home or an off-campus residence while monitoring their symptoms before returning to campus.

The school also is urging its community to avoid travel to the above-mentioned countries as well as Hong Kong, which is classified as Level 1 by the CDC.

The school said the travel guidelines are based on recommendations by the CDC and Maricopa County Health Department.

ASU, which has a web page for its latest coronavirus-related announcements, posted the new guidelines Tuesday and distributed them to students, faculty and staff in an email from President Michael Crow on Thursday.

Arizona’s first documented case of the coronavirus was a member of the ASU community. That person has since recovered and was released from isolation last month.

A second person in the state, also in Maricopa County, was confirmed recently as a presumptive case.

Wondering what it means when we say we have a presumptive positive #COVID19 case? A presumptive positive case has tested positive by a #publichealth laboratory and is pending confirmatory testing by the CDC. Visit https://t.co/ftFtE6Ft9S for the most current Arizona case counts. pic.twitter.com/HUUIXRjOnY

— AZ Dept. of Health (@AZDHS) March 4, 2020

On Monday, state officials said they were monitoring more than 200 individuals who’d traveled to high-risk areas.

As of Thursday morning, 36 Arizonans had been tested for COVID-19, with 28 cleared and six results pending.

The state has been updating the numbers daily on the Arizona Department of Health Services website.

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