From Professor Richard Reece, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education & Student Experience

Tier 3 Covid restrictions

As of 2 December, we are now in Tier 3 Covid restrictions in both Canterbury and Medway. Many of you will have noted that these restrictions do not differ greatly to those of the national lockdown. In accordance with Government guidance, we will continue to offer a blended approach to teaching until 4 December when all our teaching will move online until the end of term (December 18). The  majority of our campus catering outlets will remain open offering a takeaway service until the end of term. A Christmas vacation timetable is available detailing which outlets will be open during the festive break. Our sports facilities will reopen on 3 December providing online activities and a limited physical service.  Study spaces and our library services will remain open for our students throughout the Christmas vacation period.

The safety of all our Kent community remains of paramount importance. Please do ensure you follow Government guidance concerning Hands, Face, Space and remember to follow the ‘rule of 6’ when meeting people from other households outdoors in public spaces.

We have communicated the new Tier 3 restrictions to our students and will continue to support them to follow the guidance for the safety of our whole University community.

Asymptomatic testing

I would like to extend my thanks to all staff involved in setting up asymptomatic testing on our Canterbury and Medway campuses. This has been a significant undertaking within a very challenging schedule and staff have coped admirably.

As of 2 December, 3,600 appointments have been made at the Canterbury Asymptomatic Testing Site, and I extend my thanks to all of those who have been involved in setting the facility up in a very short period of time. In response to the high number of bookings we have received, the service has now been extended. Appointments are available until 15 December 2020 so please do book should you wish to get tested.

We are awaiting further information from the DfE, but do know that our asymptomatic testing programme is likely to continue in the New Year. To accommodate this, universities are likely to be asked to bring students back onto campus on a staggered basis. This is to ensure that social distancing can be adhered to and that the testing programme is ready to manage the volume of tests required. I will provide further information on how this will work once we receive the guidance from DfE.

Professor Richard Reece | Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education and Student Experience