Study abroad will be canceled at the University of Iowa for the spring semester and the summer of 2021.

In a campus-wide email, the UI said all study abroad and university-sponsored international travel will be canceled until Aug. 1. The email said the university hopes to resume travel later in 2021. 

“Given the development of the vaccine, we are confident that travel will start to become more common in the latter part of 2021,” the email said. “We know these delays are frustrating and we thank everyone for their patience and persistence as we work together in these exceptional times.”

The university will continue to offer virtual international courses and virtual internships. 

Study abroad and university travel have been on pause since early March, when the State Board of Regents put a ban on travel as coronavirus cases in Italy and elsewhere were rising. 

The email also announced that seven students and six employees had self-reported positive COVID-19 cases since Jan. 13. To date, 2,868 students and 386 employees have self-reported positive cases. 

There have been 386 positive cases in Johnson County over the past seven days, and the positivity rate over the past 14 days in 7.7 percent, according to the state’s coronavirus dashboard.