In a bid to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Thailand, Chulalongkorn University has imposed a ban on visiting or transit stopovers in seven countries and two special administration regions of China for its staff and students from today (Thursday) until April 19^th.

In the announcement, issued yesterday, China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau are listed as being at high risk for COVID-19 infection.

The latest preventive move is an extension of an earlier measure, issued on January 27^th, in which it was announced that the taking of leave by students or staff members of the university during the outbreak of coronavirus will not be counted as leave of absence.

The university said it is necessary to take additional precautionary measures because the disease has spread quickly in several countries.

In cases where approval for travel was granted before the latest announcement, the university suggests that students or staff postpone their travel until after April 19^th and the university will cover actual expenses incurred during the period of travel ban, if any. If the travel is unavoidable, students and staff must notify their immediate supervisors or the vice rector.

Upon their return to Thailand, students and university staff must report to Chulalongkorn Hospital for COVID-19 screening, or to other hospitals which have standard screening procedures in place.