STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State University announced this week that spring break study abroad trips have been canceled due to the spread of the coronavirus.
Researchers at Penn State are keeping a close eye on the coronavirus.
Maciej Boni is an associate professor of biology at Penn State's Center for Disease Dynamics. He spent last month in Asia researching the origin and severity of the coronavirus.
"I think that people should understand that even if most cases are mild, the level of severe infections still means that this coronavirus could affect millions and millions of Americans severely," Boni said.
There are currently no known cases of coronavirus at the university or in the state of Pennsylvania. However, according to Boni, that could all change if necessary precautions aren't taken.
"If you don't respond, if you don't tell people that they need to be a little bit more careful, not shaking hands, washing hands, canceling large social gatherings, if you don't do any of that, then this will spread very quickly."
Officials at Penn State University say they are following recommendations from both health organizations and researchers at the university.
Due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus, the university has decided to cancel all spring break class trips to international countries.
"We felt that based on guidelines and recommendations of public health authorities, that it would be better to cancel the trips and make sure that we are keeping everyone safe," said Lawrence Lockman, Penn State strategic communications.
"Whenever we can, when it comes to canceling something or reducing contacts or washing our hands more often, whenever that's feasible, we should do that because if we all do that over many months, it will improve our overall health situation."
In addition to canceling spring break trips, the university is also requiring all students studying abroad in countries with a large number of confirmed cases to return to the United States.