As you will have seen in the media, there has been an outbreak of coronavirus in China. While we advise taking all warnings seriously, at the same time we should avoid any hysteria. With this in mind, we recommend following the foreign office news pages, which are updated daily (in German):
Foreign Office Health Service (daily updates)
1) OUTGOING students & academic staff
Before travelling:
If you plan on travelling out in the coming week, please contact us immediately.
info.rihuni-rostockde; (0381) 498-1209
After travelling out:
Registered students and academic staff of the University of Rostock who are currently in China or Asia generally for a study trip, internship or for research purposes, should contact us immediately.
You should continue to follow the information at the link above carefully and also add your name to the "Elefand" list at the German Embassy in the respective country. This is an electronic register of German citizens abroad – a Crisis Prevention List – under which all German nationals in the respective country are contacted and may be flown out if the situation deteriorates.
After returning from travel:
All students and academic staff who have been to China in the last 2 weeks should be screened immediately at their local surgery or hospital in the event of any suspected symptoms.
Suspected symptoms include a deterioration of your general health, in particular respiratory problems. When you arrive at the doctor's or clinic, mention your suspicion of coronavirus so you can be taken to a separate waiting area.
To find out more about the situation in China (in German), please go to:
German Embassy in Beijing – Advice on Coronavirus
For all other foreign representations of the Federal Republic of Germany, please use the following link.
Websites of Germany's Foreign Representations
2) INCOMING international students and academic staff
All international students and academic staff coming from the affected regions or who have been in China in the last 2 weeks should be screened immediately at their local surgery or hospital in the event of any suspected symptoms.
Suspected symptoms include a deterioration of your general health, in particular respiratory problems. When you arrive at the doctor's or clinic, mention your suspicion of coronavirus so you can be taken to a separate waiting area.
3) PREPARATIONS in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania for a possible outbreak of coronavirus:
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is well prepared for screening:
Prof. Nils-Olaf Hübner (Greifswald University): Suspected cases are placed in isolation
The aim is to quickly identify symptomatic patients who have been in China in the last two weeks. If you are concerned that you may have contracted coronavirus, you should inform the clinic without delay so that the necessary precautions can be taken at the hospital, says Hübner. "We are also expanding our own diagnostic capabilities so we can diagnose this virus locally and run our own tests." Patients attending the emergency room with respiratory infections are already being isolated from patients who do not have these. Any suspected cases of coronavirus would be monitored in specially equipped isolation rooms in the emergency department. (Source NDR)
Professor Emil Reisinger (Rostock University, UMR) recommends getting the flu vaccination
Professor Emil Reisinger, a Tropical Medicine Specialist from Rostock, has called on people to get the flu vaccine. According to Reisinger, the symptoms of both infectious diseases are so similar that any suspected case would mean admission to an isolation ward. As stays at the isolation ward are extremely expensive, people could help to save these costs by getting vaccinated against the flu. The signs are that a flu epidemic is on the rise, so vaccination would not only help to save costs, but could protect people from a serious illness. (Source NDR)