Urgent action needed for all UCI travelers outside of the US

The US State Dept. has now restricted ALL international travel with its highest level four warning.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/ea/travel-advisory-alert-global-level-4-health-advisory-issue.html

We need to advise all of our travelers to either return to the US immediately or to stay where they are until guidelines change which could be many months, certainly an indefinite period of time. Please reach out to all of your international travelers at this time with the following information:

1. Travel guidance –  stay indefinitely in the country where you are now or return to the US immediately
2. Financial considerations – return to the US  immediately, you may need to sort out reimbursement and insurance later

1. Airlines are providing some relief for rebooking.
2. Some personal health insurance plans are covering travel changes for health reasons.
3. Those who enrolled in the free UC travel program are covered by UC insurance and can make a claim with UCI risk services – contact covid19@uci.edu for more information.
4. It is possible but not yet decided that everyone on UC business may be covered by the UC travel insurance whether or not they initially signed up for the travel insurance. There is even some advocacy that personal travel should also be covered to prevent anyone in the UC community being stranded. These are not yet decided but please do not let unknowns about costs prevent you from taking care of your health.
5. Self-quarantine

1. International travelers should return to their permanent residences for 14 days of quarantine if they are coming back from CDC level 2 or 3 counties. (The list is available at the website: CDC.gov).
2. If someone does not have any place where they can quarantine for 14 days, UCI housing MAY be an option – please contact covid19@uci.edu to explain your situation.

1. Covid19@uci.edu is the central point of contact for all UCI travelers and all questions related to covid19 concerns.
2. The website uci.edu/coronavirus has updates about personal responsibility, UCI support for travelers, and protocols for returning to campus and work.

Victoria Jones, Ph.D.
Chief Global Affairs Officer