Coronavirus concerns ground Chinese visits, field trips for Portland schools

UPDATE FEB. 6: Forest Grove woman infected with coronavirus on cruise ship

While the only confirmed case of coronavirus in the Pacific Northwest was discovered about 200 miles north of Portland, the disease’s outbreak in China has forced local schools to cancel trips to the country and forced Chinese delegations that had planned to visit Portland schools to stay home.

Southeast Portland’s Hosford Middle School was expecting a group of visitors from the city of Suzhou, located about 461 miles east of Wuhan, where the virus was discovered. Fifth-graders at the Portland International School were expecting a visit from students in the same area.

“Our kids are disappointed but we’re trying to find ways to make it a more memorable experience,” said Bodo Heiliger, the international school’s head of elementary programs.

Portland Public Schools spokeswoman Karen Werstein said the district has suspended exchange programs and foreign field trips to and from China for the time being. International School officials say they’ve taken similar steps.

Students are still communicating with their “buddies” at Suzhou Experimental Elementary, Heiliger said. The international school was expecting 30 Chinese students and three teachers last week, all of whom would have stayed with host families whose children would then travel to Suzhou in early March.

Robert Woods, the head of school, said he hopes this year’s fifth-graders will get to travel to China and host their buddies, even if both visits happen next year when the kids are in middle school.

Woods said the experience proves valuable for students in both Portland and Suzhou.

Coronavirus outbreak strands Forest Grove couple on quarantined cruise ship

The couple is hunkering down.

“The design is to get them to experience life and school here in the U.S. It’s reciprocated when we go there,” Woods said. “And oftentimes what happens is those host relationships grow into longer-term friendships.”

Although coronavirus concerns have grounded the international school’s trips to China, students on the Spanish track are still scheduled to visit Mexico in the spring. The school’s Japanese studies cohort visited Japan in November.

Still, Woods said, it’s too soon to make plans for make-up trips or visits for the fifth-graders studying Chinese.

School officials are waiting until they can reliably tell whether the epidemic is over, Woods said. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization says the disease’s spread may not have crested yet, Reuters reports.

The cancellation of field trips and visits from Chinese students come as the country’s officials take steps to stem the virus’ spread. A Forest Grove couple was recently stranded on a quarantined cruise ship, where they’re waiting out their two-week isolation with free internet, iPads and an Nintendo Switch.

The State Department has advised against travel to China. And people arriving to the U.S. from Wuhan are held at Air Force bases for 14 days. Health officials say the risk to the American public is low.

The virus has been contracted by approximately 28,000 people and killed more than 600, according to the latest estimates.