Dr. Fahey has sent the following letter to students in Rome and their families:
Ash Wednesday
February 26th, 2020
Dear Parents and Students of Thomas More College Rome Program,
I would like to write briefly about our Rome program in view of the rising concerns surrounding COVID-19 (also called Novel Coronavirus or the Corona Virus).
Thomas More College of Liberal Arts has maintained a Rome Program for over four decades—during periods of wars in Europe and the Middle East, heightened terrorism, the SARS outbreak (2002-2004), the MERS outbreak (2012-2018), and other periods of stress, confusion, and disruption.
The safety of our community at home and abroad has been and will remain of the highest concern.
Last weekend I began a series of meetings and conversations with Rome and New Hampshire staff about the Corona outbreak since, as most of you know, it has spread outside of China. Northern Italy has seen a recent spike in cases of individuals suffering from Corona. I would like to share with you the measures we have taken as a precaution and my current assessment of the situation.
I have asked all Rome and New Hampshire staff carefully to review documents from the World Health Organization (WHO), from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other medical sources. Following these guidelines, the Rome facility has been using and will continue to use alcohol sanitizers and cleaning agents (medically recognized as the most effective against Corona and all viral infections along with simple soap and water for 20 seconds of cleaning). Students have been instructed to carry and use similar alcohol-based hand sanitizers.
Mr. Assaf (the TMC Rome Director) and Dr. Connell have reviewed and adjusted the academic schedule. Although there is no sign of danger in the City of Rome, the students’ routes and times for their architecture course have been modified to reduce exposure to large groups. Dr. Francois Rached of the San Pietro Fatabene Fratelli Hospital met with students earlier this week and gave an overview and lecture on Corona, flu, viral infections, and preventative measures. Dr. Rached is the College’s “call doctor” for medical needs during the term.
As you may know from anxious footage shown on American media, there is an area of northern Italy that is currently under government quarantine. The Italian outbreak is largely concentrated in Lombardy and around Venice. To give a sense of scale, the distance from our Rome campus to Venice is approximately 330 miles. That would be comparable to the distance between our Merrimack, New Hampshire campus and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Assaf and Mr. Connell have both spoken to the students this week about weekend travel and travel during the break. Travel to northern Italy was ruled out earlier. In fact, Mr. Assaf had informed the students that, for the next several weeks, they should not travel within Italy to any point from Florence northward. This was a highly conservative measure and reflects a degree of precaution well beyond the Italian government’s own measures. The distance from Rome to Florence is approximately 165 miles, similar to the distance from Merrimack, New Hampshire to the Long Island Sound near New Haven, Connecticut. At the time of my writing this letter, Mr. Assaf and Dr. Connell are meeting with the students to determine the level of travel commitments and create an alternative schedule that allows them to stay in Rome and nearby. Larger travel plans have all been canceled or postponed.
The WHO has ranked the situation as an “International Concern,” but continues to assess the risk as low, outside of China. All comparisons to previous infectious concerns—such as MERS and SARS—demonstrate that the Coronavirus is far less mobile and far less harmful.
I have checked with the American State Department. Italy is at the same security level it has been for years: Level 2. The CDC has recently recommended Italy be considered a Health Level 2 Concern and has issued its “enhanced precautions” notice. This notice states “At this time, CDC does not recommend canceling or postponing travel to Italy.” The notice does state that the elderly and those with chronic medical conditions should consider delaying a trip. Mr. Assaf spoke with an official from the American Embassy in Rome and they expressed no particular concern beyond the simple precautionary measures already in place, nor did they believe that there would be any restrictions on travel imposed on Americans in Italy or Americans returning to the United States from Italy.
To put this into perspective, one can compare Corona with influenza (flu). According to the CDC, since this Fall and Winter, there have been between 29 million and 41 million cases of flu, with approximately 400,000 people hospitalized and somewhere between 16,000 and 41,000 death from flu and flu-related complications. Over the same period, there have been approximately 82,000 cases of Corona; approximately 9,000 of those resulted in critical hospital care, and approximately 2,700 individuals died.
The Italian government is being forthright and transparent about who has Corona and how it was transmitted. The vast majority of individuals are older and have compromised immune systems. This matches studies of the first approximately 72,000 individuals with Corona. Individuals 40-years old and younger have mortality rates of 0.2%. Again, by way of comparison. Mortality rates for avian influenza (H5N1) range from 0.1-0.4% in recent years to as high as 20% (in 1918). In other words, the potential mortality rates for a young person in Italy—if they were directly exposed to and contracted the Coronavirus—would be at rates comparable to the lower range of this form of influenza over the past few years. The studies that I have looked to make it clear that the risks from other infectious diseases of this kind, which have been with humanity for some time, are greater than COVID-19.
This is all information for perspective. Each student and family must be prudent and consider their own situation. There is nothing desirable about being on the wrong side of even a low level of mortality.
The Centers for Disease Control has excellent materials available on their website. I would encourage concerned parents to read over such documents carefully and not simply listen to edited versions being used in social media, or by pundits and politicians for political purposes. Public health requires careful study and deliberation. What I have observed in the media, especially during an inflammatory election year, is provocative and driven by ideology, not science or prudence. Concerned parents are also encouraged to check the US State Department website as well as the US Embassy in Rome website (found under the US Embassy and Consulates in Italy website).
At present time of writing, there are no governmental or medical agencies (in America or Italy) recommending that international students return to their respective home countries.
Based on our own review and consultation with other Colleges and Universities in Italy, Thomas More College sees no reason to cancel or suspend its academic program, or to close its Rome campus. In fact, to do so would contribute to growing problems of congestion in public places, especially international airports—precisely the kinds of places in which one should minimize time during any winter. We have taken a number of conservative measures to allay true concerns and continue to sustain a safe environment for our students and staff in Rome. We will, of course, supply the campus with essential sanitizers, as well as food and water. We will also continue to work with the local medical authorities to make sure our actions are professional, and that appropriate medical support is available should it be needed.
The College wishes all families to know that we will accommodate those students who, upon serious reflection with their families, believe that their situation requires that they leave Italy and return home, where they will have the option of completing the remainder of the semester there. Again, I am not recommending this option, but the College wishes to extend it since it is the families which know their son’s or daughter’s medical background and temperament best.
Let me end by stating that the interest of our Rome campus and the well-being of all there is not merely an institutional matter for me. I have one of my daughters there now. My wife and I are college parents, too. The Dean (Jay Thompson) has a son there now. We will continue to monitor the situation and reassess as we move through the term. Let me conclude by saying I intended to visit our new campus this term and I have every intention of spending a week there at the end of March as scheduled. As with College’s Rome staff, I remain confident and vigilant.
If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to direct them to me or to the Rome Director, Mr. Tony Assaf.
In Christ,
William Fahey, Ph.D.
President
Thomas More College of Liberal Arts
Merrimack, New Hampshire & Rome, Italy.
