Alberta Health Services memo on Wuhan novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)

This notice is from the archives of The Notice Board. Information contained in this notice was accurate at the time of publication but may no longer be so.

Alberta Health Services’ Chief Medical Officer of Health has issued a memo to the students, faculty and staff of Alberta’s post-secondary institutions regarding the Wuhan novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) situation. This memo includes information sheets regarding self-isolation, which are located below.

The memo notes that the current risk to Albertans (and Alberta students) is low and there are no confirmed or probable cases of the 2019-nCoV in Alberta at this time. The memo does, however, encourage our community to remain informed about this evolving situation. For the most current information, go to the Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services website at www.alberta.ca/coronavirus and www.ahs.ca/ncov.

The University of Lethbridge is a hub for international activity, which makes this an important issue for our institution. As outlined in the attached memo, Alberta Health Services recommends that individuals who have been in Hubei Province, China self-isolate until 14 days have passed since they last visited Hubei Province and that persons who have visited mainland China (outside Hubei Province) in the past 14 days monitor themselves daily for symptoms such as fever or cough for 14 days after their return to Canada.

Staff and students may call Health Link at 811 for any 2019-nCoV questions.

The U of L is monitoring closely the 2019-nCoV situation. Campus Safety has brought together relevant campus units to ensure quick action can be taken as this dynamic situation evolves. Some decisions have been made in response to 2019-nCoV, including suspending the presence of U of L student recruiters in China for the time being. Additionally, the Health Centre has implemented protocols to accommodate any member of our campus community who might exhibit symptoms consistent with the virus.

For those travelling internationally, it is important to know that students participating in a University-related activity outside of Canada are required in policy to register their travel with the University through the Campus Safety, Travel Abroad Registry prior to departure. Faculty and staff are also encouraged to register their business travel at the following secure link https://www.uleth.ca/campus-safety/forms/student-safety-abroad-registry.

The University is encouraging the community to exercise discretion and good judgment as they contemplate future trips. Campus Safety is available to advise on new protocols international travellers may face as well as how to mitigate risk. Additionally, the Government of Canada has issued a travel advisory in response to the novel Coronavirus situation, which can be found at https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/china.

The safety of our campus community is of the utmost importance. We will continue to work closely with community partners such as Alberta Health Services and implement further measures should the situation change. Additionally, the University will continue to provide regular updates on this situation including any additional actions the institution undertakes.


Contact:

Doug Mackie | doug.mackie@uleth.ca | 403-329-2603 | alberta.ca/coronavirus-info-for-albertans.aspx

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