The epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in China is thousands of miles away from Rhode Island, but its impact is being felt locally, particularly at universities where Chinese students and faculty are monitoring the situation from afar.
No cases or suspected cases of the viral infection have been reported in Rhode Island as of mid-February, according to health officials at area schools. But the institutions are following the health guidance of state officials and have issued several updates for students who have concerns, or who traveled to the affected area.
The stress and uncertainty for Chinese students who may have family in the affected area, or for students in general who are worried, is something that the universities say they are responding to, including by making counselors and health officials available for questions.
Brown University, which has a large number of Chinese students, planned to hold an on-campus gathering for people to share their concerns, said Brian Clark, a campus spokesman. The Ivy League institution has about 600 to 700 students from China, about 6% to 7% of its enrollment.
The concerns vary, according to Kyle Zhang, a doctoral student from China, who is raising funds to buy medical and safety supplies for shipment to hospitals and other institutions in China. People are worried about loved ones and friends who are in China, and they’re also concerned about being stigmatized because of their ethnicity, he said.
‘We’ve had contact with everybody that we know who has traveled, either individually or in groups.’
ELLEN REYNOLDS, University of Rhode Island health services director
On social media, students have seen posts about other students’ apprehension about having contact with the Chinese students, he said, and then sometimes have responded defensively. He saw a report of a woman wearing a protective face mask in New York, who appeared to be Chinese, being assaulted in a subway station.
“What I really hope is that people could calm down a bit,” Zhang said. “Because the issue is not the people, but the virus.”
He has spent several weeks coordinating a fundraising appeal, with the help of the Brown Chinese Students and Scholars Association, an organization for graduate students. So far, the fund has reached $2,000.
Zhang said he will purchase protective gear and have it sent to two cities in China, Hangzhou and Shanghai, where they will be distributed among two hospitals and some other institutions that interact with the public.
Zhang said he is still working out how the goods can be transported. Just finding the supplies has been difficult, he said.
He is doing the best he can, he said, motivated by concern. “I have friends there,” he said.
According to national reports, including in The New York Times, access to medical supplies and medications has been difficult in many areas affected by the outbreak.
At the University of Rhode Island, as at Brown, the administration has reached out to students with connections to China, including to students who are Chinese and who may have traveled home before classes resumed.
Brown set up a landing page for information about the coronavirus on its website, as well as campus-based resources for students.
In contrast, Bryant University, which operates a campus in the Guangdong province of China and has a U.S.-China Institute on its Smithfield campus, makes no apparent mention of the coronavirus on its website.
And it’s unclear what steps the university has taken in the wake of the outbreak in China. Bryant did not respond to several attempts by PBN to get comment.
URI had seven students in China as part of study-abroad programs, although none were in the Wuhan city or Hubei province, where the coronavirus has hit the hardest. The university arranged to fly them back to the U.S. by Jan. 29, before the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised against nonessential travel to China.
Those students are at their homes, and are following the recommended self-isolation advice, said Ellen Reynolds, URI health services director and assistant vice president of student health and wellness.
“We’ve had contact with everybody that we know who has traveled, either individually or in groups, and we’ve educated them about the potential health implications for themselves,” Reynolds said. “We’ve encouraged them to monitor their temperature twice a day” and to self-isolate for 14 days.
That’s the incubation period for the virus, she said, based on health guidance.
URI’s health services center, meanwhile, is fielding calls from students or others who have concerns. A small number of calls have come in, most of them asking about whether touching a package delivered from China can transmit the virus. (Reynolds says no.)
“It’s certainly not living a long time on surfaces and it’s certainly not going to survive transport from China to the U.S.,” she said. “And that’s one of the most frequently asked questions on the CDC website.”
In the literature sent to students, as well as individual phone calls, the students are reminded that seasonal flu is widespread in Rhode Island.
“In the U.S., quite honestly, they should have a bigger concern, quite honestly, with being diagnosed with [seasonal] flu. If you haven’t gotten your flu shot, it’s not too late, and it’s free at the health center,” Reynolds said.
Mary MacDonald is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Macdonald@PBN.com.
