East Meadow School District cancels Europe trip amid coronavirus fears

The East Meadow School District canceled an annual trip to Europe amid fears of the spread of the coronavirus, dubbed COVID-19 by the World Health Organization.

Every year, students studying foreign languages and taking Advanced Placement courses, and members of honor societies at W.T. Clarke and East Meadow High School travel to Europe. This year’s trip, scheduled for the beginning of April, included a week in Italy and a couple other destinations. 

The U.S. Department of State, however, released a travel advisory last Saturday, warning citizens about the spread of the virus in Italy. The State Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have issued Level 3 warnings for Italy — a Travel Advisory from the State Department, and a Travel Health Notice from the CDC — recommending that travelers avoid “all nonessential travel” to the country.

“In an abundance of caution, in consultation with parents, we have decided to cancel both our W.T. Clarke and EMHS trips to Italy and other destinations in Europe,” district Superintendent Kenneth Card Jr. said in a statement. “The travel alerts and guidance provided by the U.S. State Department was the basis of our decision to cancel.”

On Monday, the WHO reported that Italy had recorded 35 deaths from the virus, and a spike from 1,128 confirmed cases just two days earlier to 1,689. As the Herald went to press on Tuesday, Italy had reported the most coronavirus cases outside of Asia.

The State Department and CDC’s advisories also included Level 4 warnings for the regions of Lombardy and Veneto, due to “the level of community transmission of the virus and imposition of local quarantine procedures.” A Level 4 warning is the most severe, and indicates areas that travelers should avoid entirely.

The district’s initial reaction to the advisory was to change the trip’s itinerary to no longer include Italy. “At this time, no school trip has been canceled,” Card said on Monday afternoon. “We are exploring the possibility of rearranging the trip’s itinerary to not include Italy based on the U.S. State Department’s recent travel alert.”

But the district canceled the trip in its entirety on Tuesday morning.

Residents posted their thoughts about the trip on the East Meadow Moms and Dads Group page on Facebook. Many wrote that they were against sending students on the trip, despite how disappointing it would be for them. One wrote, “I would call the school before anything else. Tell them your concerns.” 

The State Department’s travel advisory included a set of guidelines for those who intend to travel to Italy. The agency recommended that they register their trip with the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, which notifies the nearest U.S. Embassy of travelers’ locations and sends alerts to their phones in the case of emergencies.