SU Abroad

Map: See how coronavirus threatens SU Abroad programs

Rori Sachs | Senior Staff Videographer

At least 153 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Spain, where SU has a center in Madrid.

By Casey Darnell

UPDATED: Wednesday, March 4 at 3:22 p.m.

Hundreds of Syracuse University students are studying abroad across the world as the coronavirus spreads to at least 72 countries.

SU Abroad’s Florence program was suspended last week after an outbreak in northern Italy. The university has directed all programs to develop contingency plans as cases of the virus are reported in countries of four remaining SU Abroad programs.

Florence was SU Abroad’s largest program, followed by London, Madrid and Strasbourg, France, said Sarah Scalese, senior associate vice president for university communications. SU’s program in Santiago, Chile, is the smallest, Scalese said.

SU is evaluating London, Madrid and Strasbourg as one unit, opening the possibility of all three programs being suspended at once.



The United Kingdom, France and Spain have collectively reported 459 cases of the coronavirus as of Wednesday, according to data compiled by Foreign Policy.

Map of SU Abroad locations with the number of coronavirus cases in each country:

The United States has 128 confirmed cases with 10 deaths. Six cases have been confirmed in New York state, as of Wednesday afternoon.

Italy and Hong Kong have confirmed 2,502 and 102 cases, respectively, as of Wednesday. SU suspended its Hong Kong program last semester amid violent protests against the Chinese government. One case was reported in Chile on Tuesday.

While SU Abroad operates seven programs, the university also advertises dozens of abroad offerings as “world partner programs.” About 200 SU students are enrolled in partner programs this semester, Scalese said.

The five partner programs with the most students are University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia), Tel Aviv University (Israel), CEA Barcelona (Spain), CET Prague/FAMU (Czech Republic) and University College Dublin (Ireland), respectively.

A student at the University of New South Wales tested positive for coronavirus in January. Australia had 42 confirmed cases as of Wednesday.

Map of the five world partner programs with the most SU students:

This post was updated with more recent data on coronavirus cases.





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