In the messages, families told to self-isolate as a “precautionary measure” if they had visited mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore, South Korea or had been in an area of Italy where the virus has established (Codogno, Casalpusterlengo, Castiglione d'Adda, Maleo, Fombio, Bertonico, Castelgerundo, Somaglia, San Fiorano, Terranova dei Passerini, Vo Euganeo, Crema, Bergamo).
The message, shared on both school sites, applied also to children who had not travelled themselves but for whom a relative had recently travelled to one of the impacted areas.
The isolation period was to start from the day of return to Luxembourg.
In instances where children showed symptoms of the Coronavirus, including fever, cough, and breathing difficulties, parents were urged to call 112 and report their trip.
The message was issued following a notification from the European School secretary general administrative unit Brussels published on 19 February.
The International School of Luxembourg has meanwhile urged parents of children who have visited the provinces of Lodi, Cremona, Pavia, Padua, Piacenza, Venice, Milan, Turin, or South Korea, Japan or Singapore, or have a relative who went to these areas recently, to contact them by calling 26 04 43 31 for further advice. It added that anyone travelling to an area deemed high-risk by the World Health Organization (WHO) such as mainland China should respect a 14-day quarantine period.
According to a WHO report published on 23 February, there are over 77,000 confirmed cases of the Coronavirus in China, and 1,769 outside of China. Globally, it has killed 2,462 people.