Nine people in Santa Clara County are infected with the new coronavirus as of Monday, according to a media statement from the County of Santa Clara Public Health Department.
The department has not released the names of the patients in order to protect their privacy.
Despite the rising rate of infections, San Jose State will remain open until further notice, according to an email sent out Friday by SJSU President Mary Papazian.
“Despite the increasing severity of the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak globally, at the time of this email on Feb. 28, 2020, there are no reported cases of Coronavirus within the SJSU community of students, faculty and staff,” Papazian said in the email.
Barbara Fu, SJSU interim clinical supervisor, said in an email that the health and safety of students is the University’s top priority.
“[The University] will be closely monitoring the situation so it can respond appropriately as needed,” Fu said. “The level of transmission within our county is something they will closely track.”
Although the campus remains open, students who intended to study abroad in Seoul, South Korea will no longer attend the trip because of a travel advisory issued by the U.S. Department of State.
The SJSU study abroad office also restricted students from registering and paying for any summer faculty-led study abroad programs.
Biology freshman Adrian Perez said that he is not necessarily worried about the virus.
“It seems intimidating at first because of everything you see in the news,” Perez said. “But when you look at it, you see it really only affects older people, like at age 50 and up.”
Fu said that students who are worried they have contracted the virus can get in contact with the Student Health Center.
“We do ask that students call first before coming to the health center so that we may take appropriate precautions to protect other students and staff,” Fu said. “As a general reminder, the public health department is recommending that all persons stay at home if they feel sick to limit the spread of illness.”
Contributing reporting by Gia Pham
