Already four days after the previous press conference, today the Dutch national government announced new measures in the fight against COVID-19. This is due to the great uncertainty surrounding the omicron variant. The new measures have a major impact on universities. Hereby is an overview.
Limited number of educational activities can go ahead
In the period up to and including 9 January, only the following educational activities will be held on the campus or in other buildings of the UT:
- Examinations. There are no new restrictions.
- Practicals for which you have to use specific (lab) facilities on campus. These are subject to a maximum of 75 students per room.
- Thesis research, if this cannot be done from home.
- The library remains open according to the scheduled opening hours for self-study. This is also subject to a maximum of 75 students per room.
- Support for vulnerable students. This applies to both the university-wide welfare activities and the guidance of individual students within the study programmes.
We ask you to keep a distance of 1.5 metres from the above activities, where possible. The rules regarding mouth masks remain unchanged.
All other educational activities must be held online, or cancelled if not possible. It is up to the programme director, in consultation with the lecturers, to determine the way in which the educational activities within their programme will be held. Teachers will inform students via Canvas about what exactly this means for the courses they are taking. We have asked them to communicate this as soon as possible.
PhD defences and inaugural lectures are held online
All PhD defences and inaugural lectures that are scheduled until 9 January will be held online in principle, in any case without presence of an audience in the room.
Working on campus
At this moment there are no stricter advices regarding working at home. The advice that was already in force still applies here: work at home when you can. Be critical of whether planned training sessions and meetings on location must necessarily take place now, can be postponed until a later moment or can be held online.
You may continue to use the labs and other (research) facilities in the coming period. This also applies to external users.
Sports centre closed for indoor sports
According to the new rules, all indoor sports locations must be closed. This also applies to the Sports Centre of the UT. Swimming lessons are excluded and will take place as scheduled. The physiotherapist (Topvorm Twente) will remain open, and toilets are also available for use. The outdoor sports accommodation may be used, though restrictions do apply. More information will follow on the Sports Centre website.
To conclude
We realize that the above measures have a great impact on working and studying at the UT. Moreover, the short period between the announcement and the entry into force makes it complicated to arrange things properly and on time. We ask for everyone's understanding for this.
By Monday 3 January at the latest, we will know more about the follow-up. All newly announced measures will be evaluated then. A comprehensive overview of all current measures can be found on the website of the Rijksoverheid. Please read it carefully. For example, new rules apply to the number of visitors you may receive at home and various services are limited or not available. Naturally, the basic rules will remain of undiminished importance.
