Jake Roers was supposed to be in the middle of a semester immersed in Italian art, food and culture. Instead, the 22-year-old Winona State University senior flew back to Minnesota on Friday, his trip canceled over concerns about the coronavirus outbreak.
"I went to study to get to see as much of Europe as I could and I didn't get close," he said after returning to Bloomington after only one month abroad. "Obviously there's nothing you can do about it."
Minnesota State indefinitely suspended all international trips for students and faculty at Winona State and its 36 other community colleges and universities — joining a growing list of Minnesota colleges, universities and high schools that are canceling trips because of the coronavirus.
At the University of Minnesota, all student programs in Italy, South Korea and China have been suspended for the spring semester, affecting about 170 students. St. Catherine University in St. Paul canceled all global trips, which nixed about 30 students' two-week trips to Peru and Cuba. And at Minnesota State University, Mankato — the largest in Minnesota State's system — 167 students had their trips abroad canceled; five were already in Italy or South Korea and had to return to home.
"It is paramount that we ensure the safety and security of our students, faculty, and staff," Minnesota State Chancellor Devinder Malhotra said in a statement, adding that the system was taking the steps "out of an abundance of caution" and will continue to work with the state health department to monitor the situation.
On Friday, state health officials reported Minnesota's first confirmed case of the coronavirus. Cases and deaths have been reported elsewhere in the U.S. and in a number of countries including Italy, Iran, South Korea and China.
On Tuesday, two U students were self-quarantined after arriving from Europe, where they had been in close contact with a traveler who had been diagnosed with COVID-19, the illness the virus causes.
After returning home Friday, Roers and another Winona State student will be self-quarantined for two weeks.