Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the University of Minnesota announced Saturday it will be suspending all travel and education abroad programs to Italy for the spring semester.
On Friday, Centers for Disease Control issued a Warning Level 3 — advising against all nonessential travel — for Italy due to a severe outbreak of COVID-19, or the coronavirus. There are currently no confirmed cases of the virus on any of the five University system campuses or in Minnesota.
The University suspended similar programs and travel Thursday to South Korea, and a similar action was taken for China in late January.
The recent announcement says students, faculty and staff who are experiencing fever, cough, diarrhea or shortness of breath should consider staying home and away from school or work to prevent spreading the disease.
The first novel coronavirus death in the U.S. was reported Saturday in Washington state. The virus has been detected in 57 locations internationally. The public health system has detected 22 cases in the U.S. as of Saturday, per the CDC.
This is a breaking news report. More information will be added as it becomes available.