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Dear Colleagues,

Following the Prime Minister’s briefing yesterday, I am writing to update you on the impact on St George’s.

Current restrictions remain in place

As you’ll be aware, there has been a four-week delay to progressing to Step 4 of the roadmap for cautiously easing lockdown restrictions. Step 3 restrictions remain in place in England until 19 July, meaning no change to our current operations at St George’s.

Exemptions, which do not affect the university, relate to weddings, commemorative events following a death, large scale event pilots, care home visits and domestic residential events for children.

It is expected that England will move to Step 4 of the roadmap on 19 July, though the data will be reviewed after 2 weeks in case the risks have reduced. The government will continue to monitor the data and the move to Step 4 will be confirmed one week in advance.

For further guidance on updated Step 3 rules, please refer to the government website.

 

What this means for us at St George’s

In my last update, I referred to our Future Ways of Working Project and the plans recently agreed by the Covid-19 Steering Group. In that message, I mentioned that we must remain flexible to any possible changes to the government’s timeline for easing restrictions.

The guidance remains that you should continue to work from home where you can. As a result, there will be a pause in the timetable for rolling out future ways of working. The expectation that staff who have been working remotely should attend site at least one day a week (pro-rata for part-time staff) in the ‘Reflect’ (Stage 1) of our timetable will not take effect until 19 July, or earlier if the government moves to Step 4 before then. However, if you are asked to be physically on-site as part of your role, it is expected that you attend as required. As per the guidance in my previous message, local arrangements agreed at Director level may in any case apply for business or health and safety reasons.

Staying safe on site

For those of you working on-site, we have been working hard to ensure that St George’s remains Covid-secure. With the current restrictions allowing more opportunities to see friends and family and get out and about, it can at times be easy to forget that the pandemic continues. It is essential that we all continue to follow the guidance to keep ourselves and others safe.

Please continue to wash your hands, wear a face covering, make space, and meet in fresh air. If you have to meet indoors, remember to keep the area well ventilated.

You must continue to wear a Type 2 face mask on site, unless you are exempt.

The requirement for social distancing of 2 metres remains in place at our university. There are some exemptions where that is not viable and we will instead have 1 metre social distancing in place, with appropriate mitigations.

Visit the government website for further information about the guidance for higher education which we are following.

 

Test yourself twice weekly

We should all now be making testing part of our routines. All of us who are regularly on site should be undertaking Covid-19 testing twice weekly (3-4 days apart) to break the chains of transmission.

You can currently collect LFD Covid-19 test kits on site to use at home. Please see further information here.

Please follow the guidance for recording your result, stating ‘LFD: St George’s, University of London: BETF (SW17 0RE)’ as the university where you work or study.

You can also order tests online from the government website.

Annual leave

We encourage all staff to still take their planned annual leave even if their vacation has been cancelled. It is important for our wellbeing to take a break from our daily routines and enjoy the current nice weather!

 

Message from Wandsworth Director of Public Health

With coronavirus cases again on the rise in Wandsworth, especially amongst people aged 18-30, the local Council has asked everyone to do what they can to stop the spread of coronavirus. Wandsworth’s Director of Public Health Shannon Katiyo has said:

“Back in April, Wandsworth residents were fantastic in coming forward for surge testing to prevent the spread of COVID-19 variants and tens of thousands of people have already had their first and second COVID jab. It’s really important that we don’t waste the progress already made.”

“If you are meeting other people, take a test first, follow all social distancing rules and as soon as you are offered the vaccine, take it. If we all pull together now we can stop the situation getting worse.”

Get vaccinated as soon as you can

We strongly encourage you to get vaccinated as soon as you can. From today, all 23 and 24-year-olds can book to receive a Covid vaccine.

Further information is available on the NHS website.

Thank you again for your patience and resilience as we continue to navigate the continued challenges of the pandemic.

Best wishes,

Paul Ratcliffe

Chief Operating Office

 

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