Information for employees about Corona-regulations in the summer semester 2021
2021-04-21
Dear colleagues
At a time when many of us are experiencing particularly heavy workloads, but also when many have long since stopped seeing each other with the same intensity as we normally do, it is difficult to express appropriate gratitude for all that you do for the University, its researchers, and its students. Nevertheless, we would like to take the opportunity once again to expressly thank you for your great dedication, your perseverance, and your willingness to face new and emerging challenges again and again.
In view of the renewed sharp rise in the number of infections, the now widespread viral mutations, and the current or planned federal-state resolutions to contain the Corona pandemic, we would like to inform you that Leuphana University Lüneburg will extend the existing restrictions on its operations at least until the end of May 2021. At the same time, Leuphana will offer Corona self-tests with immediate effect in order to increase safety measures for employees and students who are present on campus in view of rising infection figures. This testing concept complements the university's existing hygiene measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
Specifically, this means the following regulations will continue to apply:
1) At least until the end of May 2021, there will be no face-to-face courses. Courses and examinations will be held in digital formats as before. Exceptions will continue to be possible for courses that are mandatory and cannot be held in digital format - i.e. practical and artistic courses, courses in laboratories or where this is mandatory due to the didactic concept, and internships.
2) The university library continues to offer its online services and lending operations. The MIZ will decide on possible extensions of the services in consultation with the Presidential Board depending on the pandemic situation.
3) Employees whose activities do not necessarily require a presence on campus for organizational or technical reasons are still asked to work from home as far as possible in agreement with their superiors.
4) Please do not come to campus if you have reports of respiratory illness - even if symptoms are mild. In these cases, please remain at home and seek medical advice.
5) The University will remain closed to the outside public.
6) The Presidential Board, in close consultation with the deaneries, department heads, employee and student representatives, the Occupational Safety Department, and the authorities, will continuously reassess the situation regarding further action and will provide information on measures for the month of June no later than May 14.
In addition, the following regulations apply to the use of rapid antigen tests:
1) Antigen self-tests are available immediately for Leuphana employees who work in a presence on campus. Subject to their availability - also in the future - these tests are an additional building block in the university's hygiene concept. They cannot replace the proven protective measures such as contact reduction, observance of minimum distances between persons, hand hygiene, wearing of medical respirators, ventilation of work and event rooms, since results of rapid tests are less reliable than those of PCR tests evaluated in laboratories and the results have only short-term validity. Therefore, applicable spacing and hygiene measures must be maintained regardless of testing.
2) Initially, one test per week is planned as a regular offering for all employees working on campus. As more tests become available, the offer of one additional test per week is planned.
3) Additional tests are also available on an ad hoc basis for employees who work in teams where minimum distances cannot always be maintained (e.g. in housekeeping). Further tests are also available for teachers and students in courses that cannot be conducted digitally in the summer semester of 2021, but must be conducted in person.
4) The tests can be requested by supervisors of the institutions and departments or by lecturers from the occupational safety department. All necessary information on the test strategy and on requesting the self-tests can be found here: https://www.leuphana.de/intranet/verwaltung/arbeitsschutz/sars-cov-2.html.
Please continue to check https://www.leuphana.de/portale/coronavirus.html for all regulations currently in effect.
Against the background of a particularly heavy workload for over a year, we would like to take this opportunity to especially thank specific groups of university members: on the one hand, all those colleagues who (have to) carry out their work on campus, even during the pandemic, and whose work does not allow them to stay in their home offices - including colleagues in housekeeping and building services, in the library and IT, in personnel services or student services, or in the laboratories. On the other hand, all those colleagues who have been working hard for many months to ensure that the necessary conditions for largely digital university operations in research, teaching, and studies are in place - be it the colleagues in teaching, research, and administration in the faculties or schools, be it the colleagues in the MIZ and in the teaching service, be it the colleagues in the legal department, in building management, in data protection, or in other departments and facilities at Leuphana.
With our thanks, we again ask and hope that we all remain careful, prudent and healthy in the coming weeks. Please continue to avoid indoor stays with several people whenever possible, ventilate as much as possible, and do not rely solely on results of rapid or self-tests, which, according to information from the health authorities, can apparently also be increasingly erroneous, especially in the case of virus mutations.
As draining as the situation is for all of us, however, we would also like to look to the future with renewed hope. In view of the accelerating progress of the vaccination campaign, we may continue to be cautiously confident that we will be able to return to on campus university operations in one way or another in the next winter semester. Let us be motivated by this.
With warm regards,
Sascha Spoun
President
Christian Brei
Executive Vice President
Erich Hörl
Vice President College
Simone Abels
Vice President Graduate School
Jörg Terhechte
Vice President Professional School
Susanne Leeb
Vice President Research