Debating bringing your child home from abroad amid COVID-19?

Is your child* studying abroad for a semester and now you are wondering if they should come home amid the COVID-19 situation? 

I've been asked the question by many people recently and provide the following guidance (which juxtaposes quite nicely with an article I wrote last month titled "Sending your child abroad on a trip? One thing every parent MUST do!").

My recommendation is to consider your ability as a parent to care for your child in the event they become ill or incapacitated. In the earlier article, I addressed the need for parents to have a passport to enable foreign travel to assist their children in times of need. Now, border crossing closures, airline availability and other unforeseen and developing scenarios may prevent you from being at their bedside even if you possess a passport.

I know this may have been your child's "dream trip" to Italy (where my niece returned from her study abroad because of COVID-19), the Congo or Thailand (randomly selected countries with no insider information of COVID-19 prevalence). Those countries will be there in the future. And, those countries will be more enjoyable in the future without mass closures, travel restrictions and other COVID-19 related problems.

* Although the article specifically addresses children, the same principles are applicable to spouses, parents and other dependents.