Warning for New Coronavirus-Related Pneumonia (No 5)

March 9, 2020

On March 5, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on the Overseas Safety website that the infections disease risk level for all areas in Korea was raised to “Level 3: Avoid All Travel” [Warning to stop traveling]” or to “Level 2: Avoid Non-Essential Travel”.

Also, in Japan, the Prime Minister requested the temporary closure of schools nationwide in order to end the epidemic as early as possible. For travelers from Japan, the number of countries and regions taking measures of restrictions on entrance and movement of people after entering to those countries and regions has been growing. Moreover, the Japanese Government implemented measures to strengthen boarder control radically. Taking these situations into consideration, the University entirely updated the “Warning for New Coronavirus-Related Pneumonia (No 4)” notified on February 14 as follows.

Students, faculty, and staff members should always take measures for hygiene management and prevention from infection, such as washing hands frequently, practicing cough etiquette, and wearing a mask. Also, please avoid participating in events where many people gather and eating, drinking and sharing food with multiple people in a closed space as much as possible. In particular, there are cases of young people who have inapparent infections (infected but have no symptoms). Because there are possibilities that you may become a spreader (infection source) and infect other people, it is important to keep in your mind to avoid any actions to spread infection.
Students, faculty and staff members who have a fever or any symptom of a cold, please be sure to follow the instructions described below:
① Rest at home
② Refrain from going out
③ Measure and record body temperature every day

In addition, in case you have a fever (37.5 ° C or more) or any other cold symptoms for 4 days or longer, or sense of weariness (fatigue) or shortness of breath (difficulty breathing), please consult with the Returnees and Contact Center (in Okinawa, a public health center in your residence area) and follow their instructions. After consulting with the public health center, please contact the office of your Faculty/Graduate School, report the instructions received from the public health center or diagnosis by a medical institution, and ask for instructions about your study or work.
For the time being, please refrain from unnecessary and non-urgent business trips, both domestic and overseas. Particularly for those overseas travels, you should be reminded that there are some countries and regions taking measures of restrictions towards travelers from Japan on entrance and movement of people after entering to those countries and regions. Also, some countries and regions have been canceling flights from and to Japan. Such measures may be extended, so please consider the risk carefully that you may not be able to return to Japan before the new semester starts. It is strongly recommended to cancel your trip.
In case an overseas travel is unavoidable, you must contact the office of your Faculty/Graduate School BEFORE traveling.
(Information to be reported; travel itinerary, destination, accompanying person(s), tour name, etc.)
When traveling overseas, you must obtain local information and take measures to prevent infection, such as wearing a mask, washing hands thoroughly and gargling.
From March 9 to the end of March, for those who enter Japan from China (including Hong Kong and Macau, the same applies hereinafter) or Korea, regardless of Japanese or foreign nationals, the Japanese Government is requesting them to stay for 14 days at the place designated by the quarantine station manager and to refrain from using public transportation in Japan. Accordingly, international students from China and Korea will not be able to enter Japan from March 9 to the end of March. In addition, the Japanese Government designated the following countries and regions as entry denial areas for the time being.
China: Hubei Province, Zhejiang Province
Korea: Daegu Metropolitan City, Gyeongsangbuk-do Cheongdo-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do Gyeongsan, Andong, Yongcheon, Chilgok, Uiseong-gun, Seongju-gun, Cheongdo-gun
Iran: The states of Kom, Tehran, Giran

If you are unable to enter Japan on the scheduled date due to these measures and have concerns about study or work, please contact the office of your Faculty/Graduate School.

Risk Management Headquarter
(for New Coronavirus Infection Control)
University of the Ryukyus

Previous News:

Warning for New Coronavirus-Related Pneumonia (No 1&2)
Warning for New Coronavirus-Related Pneumonia (No 3)

※Please refer to the following websites:

Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare
Regarding measures against Infectious Diseases related to the New Coronavirus (Cabinet Secretariat official website)
Q & A on new coronavirus-related infections in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China (as of January 27, 2020)
WHO(English)