Washington State University is monitoring the situation in South Korea and Italy, where students are studying abroad, but is not advising the students return to Pullman, a WSU international programs spokeswoman said Thursday.

WSU uses On Call International to handle logistics if issues arise in the study abroad programs but said coronavirus is not covered in its plan.

On Call International president Thomas Davidson said he could not speak specifically about WSU’s plan, but “the trigger right now on the policies that we sell, which has been met specifically for China, is a change to the risk rating by the U.S. Department of State.”

Since Feb. 2, the State Department’s travel advisory for China has been Level 4 – ‘do not travel.’ The advisory also suggests those who are in China depart. The advisory for South Korea is Level 3, which is ‘reconsider travel,’ and Italy is Level 2 – ‘exercise increased caution.’

Gonzaga University announced Wednesday its students in Florence, Italy, would return to their permanent residences. The only students who will return to Spokane are those who are from here.

Davidson said On Call International collaborates with its clients to determine their exposure and risk threshold. For example, a business regularly traveling to a war-torn area would be considered high risk.

When arranging travel for its customers, AAA said its travel insurance coverage of something like coronavirus would vary from plan to plan, said Lisa Anciaux, AAA’s Washington travel products director. The insurance varies based on whether the customer is buying their insurance directly from the company, through a travel vendor, such as a cruise line, or policy-to-policy variances.

“No one can answer if something like this would be covered, unless we go directly to that insurance company and policy,” Anciaux said. “Some of the vendors might say, if you purchase your policy before this date, like Jan. 22, or whatever date they pick, you’re going to be covered because of this situation that’s going on. If you purchase your plan after that date, you aren’t covered.”

Anciaux said she has seen a lull in travel bookings in the past two weeks, which she correlated to the new coronavirus strain spreading to Italy.

“We’re seeing a few people canceling or wanting to cancel, and some of them are canceling for close in,” Anciaux said. “Some of them are just talking to their agent about should I cancel, but they’re not going until next year. Our advice at that point is there’s no reason to cancel right now if you’re not traveling until June of next year, right? You’re not in any extra penalty time, so just hang tight.”

The company cannot book travel in a country it is not possible to fly into, but it doesn’t specifically advise against certain countries for travel. The company does make their clients aware of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention advisories.

“Travel is a very personal thing that people do,” Anciaux said. “They have to make the decision where they’re going to go. Someone called yesterday who’s interested in September, going to Italy with his family and doing an Italy vacation. So, people are still planning for the future.”

Anciaux anticipates discounted cruise vacations are coming.