Brookline High School Postpones China Trip Amid Coronavirus Scare

BROOKLINE, MA — Because of the growing concern about the spread of the deadly coronavirus out of Wuhan, China, the annual Brookline High School student exchange has been postponed. The sister school in Xi'an has been closed and students there have been told to stay home.

It's not clear when- or if - this year's group of students will continue with their program.

Each year in early February a group of students and teachers travel to China for four months. The students are selected the school year before and go through an intensive two-week language study the summer before the exchange. To say that they've been planning this for a while, might be an understatement.

Students say they are frustrated by the news. As of Feb. 2, there were nearly 14,500 cases of infected people worldwide, including more than 300 fatalities in China, according to the CDC. Whole cities have been under lockdown, as the country grapples with the virus.

The district has asked school officials to refer all questions to the main office about the program. Superintendent Ben Lummis did not immediately return request for comment.

For the past 20 years students and a teacher have been heading to Gao Xin No. 1 School in Xi’an for the spring semester, according to the program website. The school in China then sends a group to Brookline High School to stay with host families in the fall semester.

"The selected students and teacher will leave for China on or around February 1, soon after their Xi’an friends have left Brookline to return home," according to the program website. "They will live with host families in Xi’an, attend classes at Gao Xin, and explore 5000-year-old Xi’an, the most famous ancient capital city in China with its extraordinary Terra-cotta soldiers. Xi’an’s cultural heritage is especially rich because it was the terminal of China’s ancient “Silk Road,” which connected Europe and Asia for trade and cultural exchanges. Students will also travel to Beijing and other important sites in China."

Some 15 years ago during the SARS outbreak students were already in China when it became clear that the virus was spreading. The district called that group home a couple of weeks early out of an abundance of caution.

Newton's exchange program with a school in China has also been disrupted.

The first case of the coronavirus in Massachusetts was confirmed Friday night. On Friday the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary declared the virus a public health emergency and ordered any US citizens returning from the center of the outbreak in China to be quarantined for two weeks as a precaution. This came on the heels of the World Health Organization's declaration Thursday that the outbreak is now a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. As of Monday, 11 people in the United States have been diagnosed with the virus.

Still, health officials in the US say risk to the public here is low, and advise residents to wash their hands often as a precaution.

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna)