Princeton University has ordered some students, faculty and staff who recently traveled to China to self-isolate as the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread worldwide.

Fewer than 20 students — including undergraduate and graduate students — were in self-quarantine as of Monday evening, said Michael Hotchkiss, deputy university spokesperson. They must confine themselves for 14 days following their last visit to mainland China, according to a statement issued by the university.

The mandate requires that they remain indoors and not attend classes or jobs on campus.

As many as 108 Princeton students were ordered to self-quarantine as of Sunday, but that number dropped after the New Jersey Department of Health issued a new guidance, which the university is following, Hotchkiss said.

“Each student’s needs are being evaluated on a case-by-case basis to ensure they receive appropriate assistance,” Hotchkiss told NJ Advance Media.

Coronavirus has infected 17,000 people in more than two dozen countries, including 11 confirmed cases in the U.S. It has killed more than 360 people — nearly all of them in China and none in the U.S.

Ben Chang, a spokesman for Princeton, said it is coordinating to ensure accommodations for self-isolating students are met.

The university was hashing out details, such as how to take care of students’ laundry, meals and nearly everything else in their daily lives while they remain in isolation. Keeping up with their coursework might be the easiest solution to find — virtual classes are an option to ensure they keep up with their studies.

“A big team of folks have been working for days to meet the academic housing and dining needs for students self-isolating,” Chang said. “We’re working on a one-on-one basis, whether that is arranging classes virtually … to keep up with their academic work.”

“We want to get this right,” he added.

N.J. colleges restricting travel to China

Other universities in the state have also taken action in response to the outbreak and travel advisories from the U.S. State Department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Rutgers University and Fairleigh Dickinson University both said in statements that they have restricted all travel to China for students, faculty and staff.

Rowan University “recommends all students, staff, and faculty comply with travel recommendations made by the CDC and avoid any non-essential travel to China for the foreseeable future,” it said in a statement.

Besides asking some students to self-isolate, Princeton also banned all students, faculty and staff from traveling to the nation on “university business or as part of university-sponsored programs.”

“We recognize that self-isolation is a very challenging situation for our students, and we are working to fully support them while following guidance from government and health officials,” Hotchkiss said.

Meanwhile, Gov. Phil Murphy signed an executive order Monday creating a coronavirus task force, which will “coordinate all State efforts to appropriately prepare for and respond to the public health hazard posed by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV),” according to a statement from the governor’s office.

The statement noted that Newark airport will continue requiring “enhanced entry screening for coronavirus.”

“With the outbreak and rapid spread of coronavirus around the world, it is critical that New Jersey has strong preparedness protocols in place,” Murphy said in the statement. “By establishing the Coronavirus Task Force, we are bringing together experts across state agencies, health officials, and federal partners to ensure that we are working collaboratively to protect the health and safety of all New Jerseyans.”

‘Reassuring’ response

Monday was an unseasonably warm day as Princeton students strolled around campus, many in T-shirts and shorts. Several didn’t seem overly concerned about the actions taken by the university.

Some students said they understood the reasoning amid an outbreak that has only been intensifying, even if they felt for their classmates undergoing self-isolation.

“I definitely think the university’s response has been very reassuring,” said graduate student Mary Naydan, noting she was aware of one classmate who had opted to self-isolate.

Simone Zhang, another Princeton graduate student, said she’s been in touch with a colleague currently stuck in China, unable to return because of the travel restrictions imposed by the U.S. government. She didn’t know how long it would take before her colleague would be able to return to the U.S.

The Trump administration declared the coronavirus a public health emergency last week and imposed a mandatory 14-day quarantine for Americans returning to the U.S. from China’s Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak. Certain foreign nationals who pose a risk of transmitting the virus will also be temporarily prohibited from entering the country.

Princeton is requiring students, faculty and staff who are currently in China or have returned from the country since Jan. 16 to complete a confidential registration form so that the university can provide students with assistance.

After completing the form, those who have returned from mainland China in the past two weeks will be evaluated and placed into one of three risk categories: high, medium or low, according to the university.

Those categorized as “low risk” will not be required to self-isolate.

“We expect that most will fall into this category,” the university said in a statement.

Those categorized as “medium” or “high” risk will be required to self-isolate.

For more information, visit the university’s coronavirus website here.

Any student, faculty or staff member who needs to speak to someone about the coronavirus can call the university’s department of public safety at 609-258-1000.

Adam Clark contributed to this story.

Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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