In today’s Your DMU Safety update, we’re providing further information on the student travel window, clarification on self-isolation rules when departing and how hall pick-ups will be managed. We also want to remind you of the importance of always recording seat numbers as part of our DMU Safe Trace system to keep everyone safe.
Student travel window – four step process
Earlier this week we announced details on how and when you can travel home for the festive holiday period, and when your teaching will be switching to online-only. We strongly encourage you to follow this four-step process:
- Plan ahead by ensuring you leave DMU after your last face-to-face learning commitment within the allocated dates.
- Get yourself regularly tested (at least twice weekly) from now until your planned departure date. Our free asymptomatic Covid-19 tests give results in approximately thirty minutes. Click here for how you can access these new ‘lateral flow tests’.
- Book a test 24 hours before your scheduled departure day (or as close to your scheduled departure day as possible if 24 hours before is not possible).
If you test negative, and you are not isolating as a contact, you can travel home as planned – this will give you and your friends and family the reassurance needed to return home safely and prevent any further transmission of the virus. We have requested of the Department of Health and Social Care that our testing centre remain open over the weekend of 5-6 December and after. Until this is confirmed, you should plan to have your test no earlier than Friday 4 December if your travel window is after this.
If you test positive at this point you will need to remain in self-isolation for 10 days in your term-time accommodation. After 10 days, as long as you are well, you will be able to travel home in time for the holidays.
If you test negative, but you are isolating as a contact (for instance because one of your flatmates is positive): you must still complete your isolation period for 14 days from the time of their positive test, but you can do so at your (parents’/carers’ or other) home. Avoid public transport wherever possible on your way home, and do not go shopping or visit any other location. When you get home, you need to continue to self-isolate until you have completed 14 days. Please also follow government travel advice to ensure you’re protecting yourself and others from the virus.
If you are travelling home to stay with medically vulnerable people (for instance, older people, people with medical conditions, or people who were previously shielding), consider completing your isolation period in your university accommodation instead, which will reduce the risk to those at home. It is still a legal requirement to complete your isolation period, if you have been asked to isolate by NHS Test and Trace because of contact with a Covid-19 case.
- Continue to follow the Your DMU Safety guidelines to ensure you’re staying safe and protecting others.
We know students will have a lot of questions around the 'student travel window' so we have put together a suite of FAQs on our Your DMU Future pages to help support you. Students in DMU halls of residence will receive an email from halls@dmu.ac.uk with instructions for pick-ups to ensure our students, family members, guardians, friends and others are kept as safe as possible during a time when many of you will be on the move and at risk of possible infection.
For students remaining on campus throughout the Christmas break, we will ensure there is appropriate support available which we will be announcing soon. We will also confirm which key services and facilities will remain open or closed throughout the festive season. If students have already booked public transport tickets outside of their travel window dates, they should speak to their faculty student advice centre for further guidance.
Please always record your seat number
A key part of the DMU Safe Trace system is for all students to record their individual seat numbers when attending face-to-face classes (as all tables and desks in one-metre plus teaching rooms are numbered). This is a crucial step so we can avoid asking students to self-isolate unnecessarily. The process we need all students to follow is below:
- Scan the QR code on the poster using your smartphone or complete the webform (dmu.ac.uk/safetrace)
- Then take a picture on your smartphone and/or a written record of the number of your seat each time you visit a teaching room that is designated one-metre plus.
(*please note these photos/records can be deleted after three weeks from the time they are taken*).
This is so we can help identify anyone who has been in close contact (i.e. at less than two-metres social distancing) with a person who has tested positive for Covid-19. People who fall into this category will be told to self-isolate. If a safe distance of two metres or more has been maintained while wearing a face covering at all times, the current Public Health England guidance is that a person is not required to self-isolate. This means we can avoid asking students to self-isolate unnecessarily.
DMU Safe Trace in the Library
We will update you soon if we extend numbering to other DMU Safe Trace areas such as the Library. For now, you must continue to scan the QR codes in all zones of the Library you visit where prompted (i.e. not just in the first area you use).
Track and Trace is a vital tool in combatting the spread of Covid-19 and keeping each other safe. Please remember (and ask others) to always scan in, where prompted when entering buildings and spaces on campus (and record your seat number in teaching rooms).
DMU Safe Trace is our own location registration service using QR codes (via the MyDMU app) (as shown in the picture above) and/or a webform (dmu.ac.uk/safetrace). DMU Safe Trace QR codes are displayed in teaching, learning and office spaces as they are primarily used by students and staff
There will be regular updates to the DMU Safe Trace tile on the MyDMU app so please make sure you are using the latest version if you have any trouble using the DMU QR codes. You can update the tile by clicking on the ‘updates’ tab at the bottom of the app home screen. Please note that only the MyDMU app will work with DMU Safe Trace QR codes.
NHS COVID app and Test and Trace QR Codes in community used areas
As some of our campus buildings and facilities are used by the local public, staff, students and visitors need to use the NHS COVID-19 app and NHS Test and Trace QR codes in these areas. This includes all food outlets (e.g. Food Village, Riverside Café) and leisure and sports spaces such as the QEII Leisure Centre and Beaumont Park. Visit the DMU Safe Trace webpage on Your DMU Safety for a full list of buildings where NHS Test and Trace QR codes are located.
Please note that only the NHS COVID-19 app will work with NHS QR codes, and that it will need to be updated to the latest version.
To find out more about how both systems work and how you can download/use the apps and webforms click here.
If you have tested positive for Covid-19 please report it to the university by completing our dmu.ac.uk/safetracenotify form.
All the information and help that you need to enjoy campus life in a safe and secure way is available on the Your DMU Safety website. Please make sure you read and follow all of the guidance and support on this site and check back regularly for updates. We will continue to closely follow and implement UK Government, Public Health England (PHE) and local authority guidelines.
Posted on Friday 20 November 2020