Coronavirus Update – TBC Spring 2020 Program Cancellation Announcement
Update on February 2: all students successfully departed Beijing for their home countries.
On January 28, The Beijing Center (TBC) has decided to cancel the spring 2020 semester abroad program. We have facilitated all TBC students to leave Beijing to either return home or to another study abroad program outside mainland China.
Right now, TBC is working to keep the community informed with updates and aiding the departure of students. Additionally, students are being informed with advice on how to avoid getting infected, what to do if they experience any symptoms, and being provided with water and snacks as they prepare to return home.
This is not an easy decision, but the health and wellness of our students is a top priority. We believe the early cancellation of this spring’s program is the right move to ensure students’ safety and provide enough time for them to work with their universities on their study plans and enrollment.
This decision was not made lightly, but it follows the latest U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) travel advisory announcement, as well as the announcement made by The Beijing Municipal Commission of Education that all schools in Beijing will indefinitely delay reopening.
Due to government efforts to contain and prevent further spread of the coronavirus, many public spaces in China, including historical and cultural sites, have been temporarily closed. Meanwhile, the general public is being encouraged to stay home and self-quarantine. While we recognize these important efforts, this is not the environment nor experience we wish for our students to endure during their time abroad.
We wish for our spring students to arrive home safe and sound as soon as possible. We are encouraging the students to be attentive and recommending self-quarantine back home as a precautionary measure.
While this has been a rough few weeks, we are grateful for the time our students had with us. Though it is ending much sooner than anticipated, we hope our students were able to enjoy their time in China and on the academic and cultural excursion to Yunnan. TBC is very sorry that this unexpected event has impacted the program and we hope to welcome the students again in the future once the coronavirus is resolved.
For any questions, members of the community may contact us at [email protected]. At this time, we plan to run our 2020 summer and fall programs as scheduled.
