From Professor Richard Reece, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chair of Covid-19 Silver Command

Following my email earlier in the week on the rise of student cases of Covid-19 on our Canterbury campus, I wanted to give you all a further update on what the latest picture is and what we can all do to continue to keep each other safe.

We have been liaising with the local Health Protection Team throughout the week to ensure we are doing all we can to maintain safety on campus. This includes helping students to travel home safely, many of whom have now done so, and supporting those who need to remain with us to self-isolate for a short period – thank you to all of you for everything you are doing to support this, across a wide range of departments and services.

Covid cases have been rising across the country, particularly among 18-24 year olds. With that in mind, colleagues should continue to work from home if they can to ensure we are doing our bit to minimise any further cases. Sticking to key safety guidance – including ‘Hands, Face, Space’ – remains hugely important for those working on campus or accessing campus facilities, and we continue to have measures in place to support social distancing across our campuses.

Testing is also a vital part of this if you are on campus at any time, with our asymptomatic testing centre remaining open for those that need it. Vaccination is also a key part of stopping the spread of Covid-19 and we encourage all of you to have the vaccine if offered – your manager will support you if you need to book either vaccination or testing during work time.

We will be reassessing all our safety measures on campus following the Government’s next review of their roadmap later this month. I will be in touch then, while we will also be able to update further on changes and how they affect you at our next Staff Webchat scheduled for Thursday 15 July, from 12.00-13.00. Sign-up details for this webchat will be available in next week’s staff newsletter.

Thank you once again to all of you for the tremendous effort across our campuses to keep infection rates low for the vast majority of the year, and for the way you have all pulled together to keep our students, and each other, safe.

With all best wishes,

Richard

Professor Richard Reece | Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chair of Covid-19 Silver Command