UC Education Abroad Program Suspends Spring 2020 Trips To China Due To Coronavirus Outbreak
DAVIS (CBS13) — The Coronavirus is changing more than just travel in China and also outside of the country.
"This issue is quite serious right now back in China," Bopan Ni, a UC Davis student, said.
It's so serious that the UC Education Abroad Program is suspending 2020 spring semester trips to China, specifically to Beijing and Shanghai.
"So to control the people going to that area, I believe it's a good decision," Ni said.
Some Chinese foreign national students at UC Davis agree with the decision entirely.
"This action is to protect all of the students on campus, you know, to prevent more disturbances," Shirley Zhang, a UC Davis student, said.
The cancellation impacts three UC Davis students and 50 other UC students across all campuses, according to a spokesperson from the Education Abroad Program. For many students, a semester abroad is a college highlight.
"But, it might not be very convenient for students who plan to do so. It might be very disappointing for them," Xynee Chang, a UC Davis student said.
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A spokesperson for the program said it must cancel a program when the U.S. State Department issues a level-three travel warning.
UC Davis told CBS13 that it will decide before admission closes in April whether to cancel its study abroad course in China this summer. A spokesperson said that way, students have time to enroll in another program.
Some students we talked to are glad a decision isn't being made until we know what happens with the virus.
"The whole purpose of this is to wait for the Coronavirus to get over," Luke Lin, a UC Davis student, said. "We don't know when that will be."
"We don't know when it will end or when they'll find a cure for that," Zhang said. "So before any confirmation, we have to stay alert all the time."
The images of quarantines and masks can be frightening to some. But, UC Davis students from China have one hope with the Coronavirus situation: "I hope that there's no student afraid of the people who wear masks or afraid of the students from China," Ni said.