Update: All WUAS Chinese students have been asked to kindly contact staff at chinadesk@wittenborg.eu about their current whereabouts.

Coronavirus in China - WUAS update to Students and Staff 26/1/2020

Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences (WUAS) is following events in China and elsewhere regarding the coronavirus carefully, and taking careful note of advice given by the Dutch government and the World Health Organisation. WUAS is also monitoring information from China, the UK government, and other sources of information. At this moment there is no reason for alarm in the Netherlands. Until now, only 3 cases of the virus have been signaled in the European Union (France) and these have been people with Chinese backgrounds returning from the city of Wuhan, where the Coronaviris outbreak started.

The Netherlands government has not issued any warnings to date and the situation in the Netherlands is considered safe. The World Health Organisation has also not (yet) defined the outbreak as an international emergency. 

The Coronavirus outbreak is currently restricted to a province in China, called Hubei, and predominantly the city of Wuhan. Travel has been completely restricted in and out of the province. Many other areas in China have also imposed restrictions of movement.

WUAS Chinese Student? – Please Contact us!

In order to help us provide you with support, information and guidance WUAS kindly requests all its Chinese students to register their current whereabouts by sending an email to chinadesk@wittenborg.eu – 

Please include:

• - Your WUAS S-Number
• - Your name (in Chinese)
• - Your whereabouts
• - Any questions you may have at this time.

We will try to provide advice and support within our capacity to do so.

Further Information at this time

WUAS will continue to monitor the situation and although WUAS’ Chinese students represent only a small percentage of Chinese students studying in the Netherlands WUAS will ensure that they and all other students and staff are kept informed of instructions WUAS receives. 

At this time no other immediate actions are expected.

Website of the World Health Organisation: https://www.who.int/

Website of the BBC – News on China: https://www.bbc.com/news/world/asia/china

Website of Dutch Government health regarding Coronavirus: https://www.rivm.nl/coronavirus/nieuw-coronavirus-in-China/vragen-antwoorden

Insurance Company AON

WUAS has received the following message from AON, the insurance company where most international students in the Netherlands are insured:

MESSAGE FROM AON INSURANCE COMPANY

With this message we inform you about the situation in Wuhan, Hubei region in China. Since December 12, 2019, there has been an outbreak of a new virus, called coronavirus, that causes severe respiratory symptoms, including pneumonia. The virus is spreading rapidly within the various Chinese regions. Meanwhile, the airport (s) and stations in the Wuhan region have been closed. Please follow the advice of the National Travel Advice Coordination Center (LCR) https://www.lcr.nl and the World Health Organization (WHO) https://www.who.int/westernpacific

MinBuZa (Ministry of Foreign Affairs ) advice

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs provides further information via the website and does not (yet) provide negative travel advice for Wuhan, China https://www.nederlandwereldwijd.nl/landen/china/reizen/reisadvies. 

We recommend that students staying in this region report to the Dutch Embassy in China so that they are approached in case of evacuation or information updates.

The Dutch embassy in Beijing can be reached day and night at +861085320200. There is a Dutch consulate general in Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Aon Assistance

If students from your educational institution reside in this region for study and / or an internship and have taken out Aon Student Insurance, they can get support via our emergency center: Aon Assistance telephone number + 31-10-4488260 (available 24/7). They can also find this telephone number on their insurance certificate on which their policy number is stated. To be helped quickly, it is advisable that they have their policy number at hand when they contact the emergency center.

Coverage

Although this is a non-covered event under the policy, we will assist the students where possible. Any compensation will be determined afterwards, partly based on the policy conditions.

We trust that we have been of service to you with this.