There is no longer a legal requirement for people with COVID-19 to self-isolate, however it is important that we continue to take steps to prevent the spread of infection. Not only is this important for controlling COVID 19, but it will also help us to reduce other types of infection, leading to a healthier place for everyone to study and work. With this in mind, we ask everyone to follow good public health practices:

• If someone is unwell they should work/study from home where possible, or if too unwell to work/study then rest and be absent
• Reusable face coverings are recommended in shared indoor spaces
• Remember to regularly wash your hands and use the available hand gel
• Ventilate the spaces you're in by opening windows wherever possible
• You can check our dedicated vaccination page for when our next on-campus clinics are or visit the NHS website for your nearest vaccination clinic. There are also a number of community clinics in Penryn. It’s important to complete your course of COVID-19 vaccinations to protect yourself and others. 

Further information can be found on the NHS webpage. 

If you have tested positive for COVID-19: 

If you have COVID-19, you can pass on the virus to other people for up to 10 days from when your infection starts. Many people will no longer be infectious to others after 5 days.

You should:

• try to stay at home to avoid passing the illness onto others who may be vulnerable and avoid contact with other people for 5 days
• avoiding meeting people at higher risk from COVID-19 for 10 days, especially if their immune system means they’re at higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19, even if they’ve had a COVID-19 vaccine

This starts from the day after you did the test.

If you are on a placement where you are required to test, you should be able to access testing via your NHS site, but if you are not currently on placement but still need assess to clinical settings, CSRC (Clinical Skills Resource centre) or clinicians, then we can support you with tests by request. 

If you feel you are eligible for a free LFD or PCR test, more information can be found on the Government website. If you would like any further guidance, whatever campus you’re on, you are able to contact RRH via email on: rapidresponsehub@exeter.ac.uk

Following advice from Public Health, LFD testing may continue for smaller groups of people, who will still be able to access testing on our campuses for the immediate future. These groups are:

Students on placement and colleagues accessing Healthcare settings.

We advise you to follow setting policy and order from the Government ordering system. In the event that you need to access Lateral Flow Device (LFD) tests from the University the following collection points are available:

St Luke’s Campus, Cross Keys, Mondays and Thursdays 10am - 4pm (subject to change).

Truro Campus, Knowledge Spa, 1^st Floor Reception, Monday to Friday 8am – 4pm 

Colleagues or students working with research participants:

Any person involved with face-to-face human participant research both on and off campus where research involves a person whose immune system means they are at higher risk. 

Travel testing:

• LFD tests from the University are not suitable to comply with Fit to Fly travel testing and if required should be sought from a private travel test provider if required.  Further information on Fit To Fly travel tests can be found here.
• For residential field trips where a member(s) of the party include a person who has identified as being at higher risk of getting seriously ill from COVID-19.  LFD tests can be requested in advance from the Rapid Response Hub by the authorised Faculty field trip coordinator. 

If you have any queries, please feel free to email on rapidresponsehub@exeter.ac.uk. 

Asymptomatic testing for COVID-19 of human participants is no longer a required mitigation. Asymptomatic testing is still a recommendation where studies are recruiting potentially vulnerable participant groups or the researchers are vulnerable. The University has a limited stock of COVID-19 tests, which once used up will not be replaced and there will be no supply from Dec 2023 due to the age of the stock . Please consider the cost of testing as part of the study design, and where possible include these costs in any funding proposals (subject to funder terms and conditions).

As always, before data collection starts, you must receive ethical approval for these studies. Please be aware that those who have previously received approval for research with human participants must re-establish approval for any amendments and ensure that all supplementary documents (e.g. participant information and consent forms) amended due to Covid-19 and infections measures or for other reasons are also re-approved. Participant information sheet and consent form templates with sections on COVID-19 measures can be found here

Most infections with COVID-19 resolve within the first 4 weeks. “Long COVID” is an informal term that is commonly used to describe signs and symptoms that continue or develop after an acute infection of COVID. Depending on how long you have ongoing symptoms for, it can be called one of 2 things:

• Ongoing symptomatic COVID This is where your symptoms continue for more than 4 weeks. If your symptoms last for longer than 12 weeks, it will then be called;
• Post-COVID Syndrome This is where your ongoing symptoms continue for longer than 12 weeks and cannot be explained by any other condition.

If you are concerned about any of your symptoms contact your GP – they should offer you an initial consultation and provide access to any further assessments or care that they determine you need. For more information on “Long COVID” then please visit the NHS dedicated guidance.  

We are also offering a bitesize course for colleagues called: Managing Long COVID in the Workplace. This course will be aimed at anyone who has an interest in the condition, including employees and line-managers. If you would be interested in this course, please register your interest here.

If you have a weakened immune system and have concerns about working on campus, please contact our Occupational Health Service for advice on what further steps may be necessary when you are working on campus or, (if this is a reasonable adjustment recommended under the Equality Act), permitting remote working. 

The process to be followed will be the standard process for occupational health referrals. 

Students: If your immune system means you are at a higher risk of infection and have concerns about being at University, you can contact the Student Wellbeing Centre for advice and support (Exeter) (Cornwall)

The different rules for passengers travelling to England from mainland China will end on Tuesday 4 April 2023.

If your flight will arrive in England after this time, you will not need to show notification of a negative test to your airline before you travel. If you are travelling close to the date of the change, check whether your airline will expect you to have a negative test.

From Friday 17 March 2023, passengers aged 18 or over travelling from mainland China and arriving at Heathrow Airport will no longer be invited to take a voluntary test on arrival.

Full guidance on travelling to England can be found here.

You can find out what you need to do if you have COVID-19 here. 

SafeZone is an online app that helps us to help you whilst on campus, if you request it. The app is available for all colleagues and students to download and sign into if they wish.

In the event of an emergency, we’ll be able to keep you updated, via text messages, should you need to be aware of any vital location-based information. Once installed if you press Emergency, Help or First aid, your location will be sent to relevant staff on campus and allows us to keep you updated, via text messages, and relevant information relating to your emergency.

To download the app please go to: www.safezoneapp.com and follow the instructions for your device. You will need to register with your University of Exeter email address and review the permissions for the app to enable the app to be aware of your location, by using the transmitting signals on your phone. You should also allow push notifications, to enable the University to communicate with you if you raise an emergency alert.

Colleagues can now also download SafeZone to their University laptop or PC desktop.  To do this, please search 'Software Centre' in the start bar; then search 'SafeZone' on the applications page; then click on the install button.  If you are logging in using the desktop application, please note "(DESKTOP)" before your room number when checking in.

You can read more information about the SafeZone app online.