Clive has asked me to pass on the following message. 

Dear All

 In the light of the latest government announcements we have reviewed our policy and guidelines in handling Covid-19 restrictions.

Despite the restrictions, for the sake of students and families on site, and for all those staff whose well-being is enhanced by their being on campus in person, or who need to be on campus because working from home is not possible, we want to continue to communicate the very clear message that Queen’s is still an active community. It’s just that many students and staff are relating to the campus from a distance while doing their work and studies. The campus remains open in a limited way, with permanent residents and staff living, working and studying within the confines of the local Birmingham lockdown. We envisage no interruption of existing services to you. We must simply reinforce some existing practices and draw attention to slight amendments to current practice, as listed below.

There is no expectation that any staff member attend campus if they can work from home and we are discouraging all visits unless they are absolutely necessary, as has been the case throughout the summer months. There are physical distancing measures in operation across the whole campus, clearly marked in shared spaces. Such distancing must be respected at all times. This is for the safety of all who live on site, and those who have to come to campus to do their work. We want to thank all those in residence for respecting the measures we have needed to take.

Specific things that need to be emphasized are:

• Because of the lack of ventilation in the FYH Lecture Room, caused by a technical fault, the room should not be used at present.
• Masks must be worn by all those using entering the Dining Hall and kept on up to the point at which eating begins!
• Use of hand-sanitizer on entering buildings is not a request but a requirement.
• The pressure on staffing of the Reception is a key issue and we ask for patience and understanding if the Reception area is not staffed at a particular time. We are looking at various ways of having ‘contact people’ available when Reception cannot be staffed.

Please continue to contact reception to book an appointment to sort out specific matters by calling switchboard or emailing hospitality@queens.ac.uk and continue to use maintenance@queens.ac.uk to flag maintenance issues. 

Thank you for your support in these perplexing times. We simply ask that all connected with Queen’s continue to take these measures very seriously indeed so that all remain safe.

 With all good wishes

 Clive