As the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is rapidly spreading in Massachusetts, we hope BU could act quickly and take further actions to protect its faculty, students and staff.

As of March 9th, there are a total of 41 presumptive positive or CDC-confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, reported in Massachusetts, and the growth of this number is accelerating these days. (https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/02/27/world/latest-updates-coronavirus/ We should note that these cases are not that far from BU. There are 10 cases in Suffolk County as of now, most of which attended the meeting held at the Marriott Long Wharf Hotel in Boston’s Seaport District. What’s more, according to BU Today, a family member of a student attending Boston University Academy has tested positive for COVID-19. (https://www.bu.edu/articles/2020/bu-remote-learning-plan-if-campus-closure/

Furthermore, as many of our students are traveling to areas with relatively more confirmed coronavirus cases during Spring Break, for example, California, Washington or Europe, the risk of coronavirus outbreak on campus after Spring Break is relatively higher.

1. Cancel all course meetings on campus and switch to online courses until the situation gets better.

2. Cancel all activities and events on campus, try to avoid and decrease the number of meetings.

3. Take surveys about all faculty’s, students’ and staff’s travel history, and suggest people who have been to higher-risk areas self-quarantine.

4. Clean and disinfect all common areas and facilities on campus properly and regularly.

We understand that these actions may bring great inconvenience to both the school and the students, but we believe that these actions are necessary to protect everyone on campus from this epidemic. There is adequate evidence that one confirmed case on campus would bring the disastrous outcome to our crowded campus. The virus is highly transmissible, as R0 for this virus is 2.2, which means 1 single infected person could infect 2.2 others, on average, while the R0 of flu is only 1.3 (https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-myths.html

"We, as a part of Boston University, willing to take the online courses to avoid further uncontrollable virus spread to our campus."

As students of Boston University, we are grateful for what the school has done to prepare for this epidemic, we hope that further actions could be taken sooner than later.











