In response to the current situation linked to the spread of coronavirus (2019-nCoV), the Technical University of Košice and the Erasmus+ National Agency stress the need for extra care in planning mobility in the affected areas.

Following the opinion of the European Commission delivered on 31 January 2020 and 25 February 2020, it depends on the decisions of participating organizations and individual participants how to implement the planned activities or postpone, if possible, travelling to areas affected by the disease.

We also suggest that you:

• adequately manage project activities (e.g. communication with a partner organization in security matters, change in dates of the planned mobility, etc.)
• monitor the travel advice of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic,
• continuously monitor the development of the situation and assess it early so it is possible to take measures in advance (examples below).
• communicate regularly with partner organizations to flexibly respond to the situation,
• take appropriate measures in safety and make participants aware of these measures, in particular the hygiene rules,
• ensure adequate travel insurance (e.g. plane tickets),
• obtain contact details of the Slovak embassy in the relevant country (or in the nearest country if the Slovak embassy is not established in the given country).

The National Agency may invoke force majeure for mobility planned/undertaken in/from areas that would indicate the occurrence of coronavirus. The National Agency will assess each application individually and will require the recipient of the grant to:

• provide a proof of all preventive measures and efforts that should lead to the prevention of the circumstances leading to the failure to comply with terms and conditions or to the minimisation of the impact on the implementation of activities.

• demonstrate the existence of objective and unavoidable obstacles that led or could lead to non-compliance with contractual terms (e.g. in the form of screenshots of the website of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, written information from the receiving/partner organization),

Such measures designed to prevent or minimize damage may include:

• change in the date of implementation of the mobility, transnational meetings and the like. (In rare cases, a change in the duration of the contract),
• change in the target country, where possible,
• selection of the appropriate travel insurance covering at least part of the costs,
• purchase of plane tickets with the cancellation option,
• reservation of accommodation with the cancellation option, etc.
• for KA107 projects of Call 2018, it applies that if the project involves the country where the incidence of coronavirus is proven, the given project can be extended by 12 months, i.e. by 31 July 2021. The request for an extension shall be sent signed by a statutory no later than 30 June 2020, i.e. one month before the original scheduled completion of the project.

Please note that TUKE and the Erasmus + National Agency are not in a position to express a view on the degree of risk or danger of infection in individual countries. The information can be found on the following websites:

Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic:
https://www.mzv.sk/cestovanie_a_konzularne_info/oznamy_a_upozornenia_pred_cestovanim

WHO – World Health Organization:
https://www.who.int/westernpacific/emergencies/novel-coronavirus

ECDC – European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control:
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/cases-2019-ncov-eueea