COVID-19 Update
03/09/2020, 02:15:02 PM
President Khator

Dear Students,

As we continue to see more and more news about the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus), I know that you and your families must be anxious, because we all are. As I assured you last Wednesday, we continue to follow closely the global spread of COVID-19 and its potential impact on our university communities.  There have been no reported cases of COVID-19 on our campuses; however, there have been some cases identified in and around Houston. According to reports, all of these cases involve foreign travel.

It is the time to exercise prevention, not panic. The safety of our faculty, staff and students is our top priority. We must take all necessary precautions suggested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but we must also commit to playing our role in containing the outbreak of the virus in our community. With this in mind, I am providing you with the following information.

Communication regarding COVID-19

The UH Health Liaison, Dr. Vanessa Tilney and the UH Office of Emergency Management continue to work with local, state and national authorities on a daily basis. Any and all updates related to the university’s operations will be available on the UH COVID-19 (Coronavirus) webpage which you can access from uh.edu.  You will receive emails and alerts as necessary but I am asking you to please keep checking updates on the webpage because this situation can change rapidly.

Travel is restricted

The University of Houston is now restricting all international travel at least through the end of March and is continuing to require off-campus self-quarantine of 14 days for traveling to any country on CDC’s travel warning list at Level 2 or Level 3 for COVID-19.  Written approval is required before any student may return to campus after self-quarantine. For your own safety and the safety of those around you, please consider your risks and options carefully when making decisions regarding personal travel.  If you must travel abroad (to any international location), you are instructed to register on the UH COVID-19 website.

Classes will continue

Classes are continuing in their current formats at this time.   At some point in the future, we may decide offering some or all classes online is the appropriate decision to make for the safety of our faculty, staff and students.  We will certainly move to online instruction immediately if instructed by local, state or national authorities and will update you with logistics as necessary.

Community responsibility

You should act responsibly as a community member if you are sick.  If you have a cough, fever, shortness of breath or other symptoms of contagious illness, you should seek medical attention to ensure it is safe for you to attend class and be on campus.

For questions related to COVID-19, you may write to coronavirus@uh.edu.

We care about you, we care about your learning and instruction, and we care about your future.

With warm regards,


Renu Khator
President, University of Houston
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