The novel Coronavirus, namely COVID-19, originally detected in Wuhan, China. Due to a long incubation period, COVID-19 can stay in the body asymptomatic for up to 14 days, eventually leading to a higher chance of shedding the virus among the population compared to the SARS epidemic. As opposed to the MERS epidemic, COVID-19 has a higher mortality rate. As highly contagious as it is, COVID-19 has now spread to over 91,000 people around the globe and has caused almost 3,000 deaths.

In light of the current news that the second confirmed COVID-19 case in New York is currently being hospitalized at New York Presbyterian/Columbia in Washington heights, we, the students at Columbia University Mailman School of Pubic Health, would like to bring the school administrators’ attention to our concerns on student safety.

We are aware that some students from medical school are doing interns or turnovers in NYPH. With higher risks of exposure around the NYP hospital, CUMC students may have roommates/friends that study/work at the NYP hospital and share public space together. Frequent person-to-person contacts in small communities like CUMC may significantly increase the chances of being exposed or even infected. Furthermore, we are aware that many students commute between two campuses, which put students at both campuses at risk.

We sincerely urge Lee C. Bollinger, the president of the Columbia University in the City of New York, and Lee Goldman, the Chief Executive of Columbia University Irving Medical Center, to re-evaluate the current risks and close both the Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) and Morningside campus to prevent the spreading of the COVID-19 virus on our campus.