Assumption College Cancels Classes In Rome Over COVID-19

WORCESTER, MA — Assumption College has canceled the remainder of the spring semester at its Rome campus amid a growing outbreak of the new coronavirus, COVID-19. Students and staff at the campus in Italy will be brought back to the U.S., the school said in a statement.

The Assumption campus in Rome is far from the center of the Italian COVID-19 outbreak in the northern part of the country. But new travel advisories and the size of the growing outbreak — nearly 1,700 cases as of Sunday and 34 deaths — prompted the decision.

"The safety of our students and faculty in Rome is paramount," Assumption President Francesco Cesareo said in a statement. "This decision was difficult and not one made in haste, rather, it was thoughtfully, thoroughly and exhaustively discussed over a number of days. While we hoped for students to complete the semester in Rome, an unprecedented global health crisis has intervened."

The school is also recalling a group of students who were in Florence as part of a third-party study abroad program. Assumption says classes in Rome will likely resume in time for the summer 2020 session.