Coronavirus Outbreak In Italy Causes Temple University To Close Rome Campus, Bring Study Abroad Students Home
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Temple University is closing its campus in Rome and evacuating students who are studying abroad due to the coronavirus outbreak in Italy. The college said Saturday its in-person academic operations in Rome will be closed for the remainder of the 2020 spring semester.
For Temple University siblings 21-year-old Dominque and 20-year-old Vito Quaglia and their childhood friend Gabriella Rubino, a junior at Susquehanna University, leaving Italy midway through their study abroad program was not part of the plan.
The three Pittston, Pennsylvania, natives are currently on spring break in Paris, France.
They told CBS3 they're "sad, absolutely heartbroken" after receiving an emergency email from Temple University on Saturday announcing that due to the coronavirus outbreak, it's closing its in-person academic operations in Rome for the remainder of the spring semester.
Temple University siblings Vito & Dominque received an emergency email today from the school that they have to abruptly cancel their spring break plans, and leave the school's Rome campus due to the coronavirus outbreak@CBSPhilly pic.twitter.com/Fflp3TYxkb
— Chantee Lans (@ChanteeLans) March 1, 2020
All of the 50-plus students living on the Rome campus must now pack their belongings and head home.
"Obviously, we know that Temple wants to do what's best for us," Rubino said, "but it's tough because we've had to book all new flights to go home and that costs a lot of money."
The decision comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. State Department elevated travel warnings to Level 3 for all of Italy, advising against all non-essential travel.
Level 3 is also the same level at the epicenter of the outbreak in Wuhan, China.
At least 29 people have died in Italy from the coronavirus. There are more than 1,100 cases.
"This means you will need to make arrangements to gather your belongings, leave Italy and return home," Interim Director and Acting Dean of Temple University Rome Fay Trachtenberg said in a release. "I realize many of you had hoped we could continue the spring semester together, but your safety and welfare are our highest priority."
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These students must once again get past airport security health screenings before returning to the U.S.
"We encountered some tests at the Rome airport, but it was more like a hand swab and a heat sensor check," Rubino said.
The friends plan to return to Philadelphia on Tuesday.
It will be a journey that their parents had hoped for.
"I think they're sad for us that we have to come home, but I think they're relieved that we're going to be home," Vito Quaglia said.
Students will be able to finish their semesters online.
Students returning to the Main Campus in North Philadelphia will have to contact Student Health Services before they arrive.