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Dear Members of the Hotchkiss Community,
As is apparent in news reports, the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak is rapidly evolving. We write to provide an update on how the latest information affects the Hotchkiss community, and to request information regarding planned travel outside of the United States by any member of the Hotchkiss community.
This message includes the following:
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Link to Share Plans for Travel Outside the United States
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Taking Care of the Hotchkiss Community
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Travel Safety
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Illness and Return to Campus
Link to Share Plans for Travel Outside the United States
Please be aware that the U.S. Government
may
, in the interest of public health, increase travel restrictions in the coming weeks, and these decisions could affect a traveler's ability to return to campus after the break.
In the interest of helping us provide support for those who may be delayed in returning to School, we ask
all Hotchkiss community members who will be heading to destinations outside the United States, including students, faculty, staff, and campus spouses and dependent children, to share their March Break travel plans.
Taking Care of the Hotchkiss Community
We encourage students, families, faculty, and staff to refer to the advice, guidelines, and COVID-19 travel alerts provided by the Centers for Disease Control, in particular their
Guidelines for Prevention and Treatment
and
Coronavirus Disease 2019
.
Please check the CDC website often as it is regularly updated with new information. As of
March 2, 2020, the CDC lists the following country-specific travel advisories:
- Widespread sustained (ongoing) transmission and restrictions on entry to the United States: China (Level 3 Travel Health Notice) and Iran (Level 3 Travel Health Notice)
- Widespread sustained (ongoing) transmission: South Korea (Level 3 Travel Health Notice) and Italy (Level 3 Travel Health Notice)
- Sustained (ongoing) community transmission: Japan (Level 2 Travel Health Notice)
- Limited community transmission: Hong Kong (Level 1 Travel Health Notice)
Travel Safety
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If you will be traveling, we urge you to stay alert to changes and developments that may affect your plans. Monitor travel advisories, including potential restrictions on border crossings, and be ready to change your plans if conditions change.
View the list of CDC travel notices here.
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We request that Hotchkiss community members not travel to
mainland China
,
South Korea, Iran, or Italy
over March Break, as they all have Level 3 travel warnings.
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We advise community members to reconsider travel to Japan, the one current CDC travel alert Level 2 country. If the CDC increases the warning to a Level 3 for any location, there is risk of a mandatory period of quarantine or refusal of entry on return to the United States. It is also possible that the CDC could recommend that individuals returning from a Level 2 country should self-quarantine. Keep this in mind as you make your travel decisions. Hotchkiss will respond according to CDC guidance.
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Based on the CDC's recommended
Guidance for Student Foreign Travel
, we have cancelled all school-sponsored international March Break programs including Germany, Italy, Mexico, and Poland.
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At this point, Hotchkiss is going ahead with domestic athletic programs in Florida and Arizona. If circumstances should change, we will be in touch with the students involved in those programs and their families.
Illness and Return to Campus
We ask that any traveler who has traveled to a COVID-19 travel advisory Level 2 or 3 country and develops flu-like symptoms or has had close contact with a COVID-19 patient or COVID-19 person under investigation (PUI) to refrain from returning to campus after March Break. Please reach out to your local health care provider and then the dean on duty (call +1-860-435-2591) to discuss next steps.
The School is committed to taking reasonable measures to ensure the well-being of the whole community, and we will determine if it is appropriate for a Hotchkiss community member who may have been exposed to return to campus. This applies to all members of the community: students, faculty, staff, and their family members who reside on campus.
Please note, the School is not equipped to quarantine students awaiting COVID-19 lab results or accommodate 14-day self-quarantine waiting periods. We expect families to have off-campus contingency plans in place for their students, if needed.
We are one interconnected and interdependent community, and the choices each of us makes and the risks we assume can have unintended yet potentially serious implications for others. It is vitally important that each of us reflects on our choices and their potential impact and act according to what is likely to keep the Hotchkiss community healthy overall.
Craig W. Bradley
Head of School
Jared Zelman, M.D. P'04
Medical Director
Steve McKibben P'22
Dean of Community Life
David Thompson
Director of International Programs
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