COVID-19 update from MRT: End of Plan B
21 January 2022
This message is sent on behalf of Dominik Zaum, Chair of the Major Recovery Team
Dear colleagues,
As I am sure you will have seen, this week the government announced the end of ‘Plan B’ restrictions. Members of the MRT met yesterday to review the changes in the guidance and the local COVID situation. I am writing with an update on what this means for our control measures and working arrangements.
While cases appear to be falling in the southeast of England, including in Reading and Wokingham, the overall numbers remain high. The beginning of both the school term and our University term has brought an expected spike in student and staff cases. Infections by staff have levelled of over the last week.
When determining the appropriate measures to keep our community safe, we have always considered government guidance, public health advice, and our local situation, to ensure that we have the measures in place that are right for us. Given our local situation, we believe that it is right that we retain, for the time being, most of the COVID control measures that we have in place. These include enhanced ventilation, one-way systems, and enhanced cleaning regimes. This also includes the expectation that face coverings are worn indoors, including in the library and teaching settings when moving around inside or when social distance cannot be maintained.
Working from home
It is important to remember that while the government guidance was that people work from home if they could, there were significant exceptions to this relating to education and research. This meant that many colleagues, especially those teaching or directly supporting student wellbeing, have continued to work on campus throughout the Omicron wave.
While the government guidance is now no longer to work from home if we can, the reduced capacity of offices and ventilation requirements, and our commitment to smarter working mean that we do not expect colleagues currently working from home to return to campus immediately. We are working closely with Heads of School and Function to manage the transition to increased on-campus working in line with local priorities, space and risk assessments, and our smart working framework.
Your line manager will contact you about the arrangements in your area.
If you are clinically vulnerable and are concerned about returning to work on campus, you are encouraged to discuss this with your line manager, where appropriate with input from Occupational Health Services, to discuss possible accommodations.
Vaccinations and Testing
Vaccinations are the most effective way to limit the spread of COVID and to prevent serious illness if infected. We therefore strongly encourage everyone in our University community to take up COVID-19 vaccination and boosters, which can be booked for free on the NHS website. Please continue to take regular lateral flow tests (LFTs), in particular before coming onto campus. You can collect LFTs from the collection point in the Library, Monday to Thursday, 13:00 – 16:00.
Positive cases
Please do not come to campus if you are showing any symptoms of COVID-19, no matter how mild, or if you test positive. If you have symptoms of COVID, please take a test straight away. If the result is positive, you must still self-isolate in line with government guidance. You must report your positive test result, whether from a PCR or LFT, to your line manager as soon as possible. Government guidance has recently changed, and you may be able to end your self-isolation early if you get negative LFT results on days 5 and 6 and do not have a temperature.
We plan to review our control measures again at the end of February, unless circumstances mean we need to sooner.
We will all feel differently about the changes to the guidance, on a personal and professional level so please continue to bear this in mind and look out for one another.
Best wishes,
Dominik
Dominik Zaum
Chair, Major Recovery Team