The University of Maryland announced Wednesday that it is suspending study abroad programs in South Korea due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The Center for Disease Control raised South Korea’s threat level to Level 3 — the highest level, which warns against all nonessential travel — Monday. South Korea is the second country to receive this designation, after China, because of the coronavirus outbreak.
This university will immediately suspend any study abroad programs in countries that receive a Level 3 designation, according to a campuswide email from provost Mary Ann Rankin.
All students studying abroad in Italy and Japan, which both have received Level 2 designations, should be prepared to return to the U.S. if circumstances or the threat level change, Rankin wrote.
All study abroad programs in China — where 78,191 people have been infected with the virus and 2,718 have died — were suspended last month.
As of Wednesday, there have been 1,261 reported cases of the virus in South Korea, second behind China. Italy has reported 322 cases, while Japan has reported 164.
“We are working with our education partners to evaluate online learning solutions should students have to depart a program early,” Rankin wrote in the email.
