COVID-19 update: government announces new restrictions

Dear colleagues,

Following the government’s announcements of new COVID-19 restrictions, we anticipate that specific guidance for universities will be available later this evening or tomorrow, but we wanted to update you on what we know so far.

The following measures will come into force: 

• face coverings will be required in most public indoor settings from Friday 10 December
• people should work from home where possible, subject to a number of exemptions, from Monday 13 December
• vaccine passports will be required for larger events from later next week.

We understand that there will be exceptions from the working from home recommendation, including for those deemed critical to the continuation of in-person teaching and learning (e.g. staff involved in face-to-face teaching, those who support teaching and learning like lab technicians and specialist technical staff, essential student support services like the Library and other necessary campus facilities), and researchers.

Managed transition to working from home where appropriate

Given we will continue to deliver teaching and other activities on campus, in line with the educational exemption, we need to ensure a managed transition. We ask that you please do not move to home-working arrangements until you have discussed and agreed this with your line manager, but continue with your current working patterns, including flexible working patterns.

The Major Recovery Team will be reviewing the government announcements in detail, and any university-specific guidance that follows, and we will update you again by the end of the week.

Communications to our students

We will be emailing students this evening to assure them that teaching will continue on campus as scheduled. The government has not placed any restrictions on student travel, or announced a student ‘travel window’, as it has previously.

Should these new rules remain in place into the spring term, we still anticipate that the education exemption will allow us to return to on-campus teaching as planned, with no provision for ongoing at-a-distance study. We will keep this under close review, and adjust this position if government requirements change or if the health and wellbeing of our community requires.

Graduation celebrations to continue

We are emailing those due to graduate this week to confirm that graduation will proceed on campus as planned. Although the new government requirements do not come into immediate effect, all of the arrangements we have in place for graduation fully comply, and we are putting in place some extra checks to manage numbers in some of our larger spaces. Those colleagues who are supporting graduation should also receive an additional email about this.

Given the experience many of us now have of working remotely, this transition should hopefully prove easier than on previous occasions. However, we ask that you continue to show patience and understanding towards colleagues and students as we manage the latest in these COVID-19 challenges.

Best wishes,

Dominik and Julian

Dominik Zaum and Julian Park

Co-Chairs, Major Recovery Team