COVID-19

As I'm sure everyone is aware, COVID-19 (coronavirus) is currently spreading throughout Europe. The first case was diagnosed in Greece yesterday and immediately people started panicking. At first we received emails that stated we needed to be cautious but could still attend school. The next email stated that study abroad students were welcome to go home and could complete courses online. The third email was the one that really caused the panic. We got an email stating that if you had visited any of the affected areas, you were required to stay off campus for 14 days. This emails all occurred within 12 hours.

While I didn't visit any of the areas myself, 7 of my 11 roommates were in Northern Italy over the past weekend. Included in the 7 is my direct roommate who I share a room with. I'm not particularly worried or scared of the virus itself, I'm much more concerned about the reaction of others. Most of the Americans are stressed which has also ignited a lot of misinformation being passed around. There is one student, that I am aware of, who has decided to go home. Our college here is not helping with this as the emails are not clear and haven't given us enough information as to who can and can't attend classes.

As of this morning I am attending classes. Nobody has informed me specifically that I can't but I know others in a similar situation to me have been turned away. My professor said I was welcome to come so I think I will take it class by class. I'm anxious to see how this plays out especially in regards to staying here but also travelling to other countries. I have a trip to Vienna planned for the 5th-9th of March and am meant to be travelling in May. Hopefully this gets contained soon but in all honestly I think this will spread much further before the end is in sight.