Statement - Tuesday 28 January 2020

The University strongly advises all staff and students against non-essential travel to China (including the S.A.R Hong Kong) until (at least) 14 February - which we will keep under review.

We have made this decision based on advice from our own staff office in China, and in light of notification from institutional partners in China that they will be extending the New Year holiday and so are likely to be closed, at least, until 17 February 2020.

We are also aware of ongoing travel restrictions, particularly in and around Wuhan and Hubei Province, extending to other cities.

We have developed some Frequently Asked Questions for further advice on changing travel arrangements if you are in or about to go to China or Hong Kong.

Latest Advice for travellers who have visited Wuhan or Hubei from Public Health England

PHE have updated their advice today as follows - 

If you have returned from Wuhan or Hubei in the last 14 days:

  • stay indoors and avoid contact with other people as you would with other flu viruses
  • call NHS 111 to inform them of your recent travel to the city

If you need to be absent from your studies for a short period due to clinical advice then you should notify your school in the first instance and contact our support team on: ss-feedback@contacts.bham.ac.uk. We can then offer advice and support while you are in isolation. Please do not worry about being absent from your studies for this short period.

This is an evolving situation and the advice has changed based on emerging information from China about the number of cases and spread of the infection from person to person. While the risk to the UK population remains low, this is a highly precautionary measure to limit the potential spread of infection.

Please follow this advice even if you do not have symptoms of the virus but have recently visited Wuhan / Hubei province within the last 14 days. More detailed information can be found on Gov.UK.

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