How ITM handles covid-19
Do I have to report to KTH that I have covid-19? What happens when a student becomes infected? Does KTH block the access cards? Andreas Alm Arvidsson from the Office for Student Affairs and Anna Blendow at HR answer common questions about covid-19 at ITM.
If am tested positive for covid-19, do I, as a KTH employee, have to report it to my employer?
There is no obligation to report that you have covid-19, or any other disease you are suffering from, but we’d appreciate if you do.
Will the infected person's colleagues find out about her/his illness or is it classified?
The infected person must give his/her consent before we are able to inform other colleagues that they have a contagious disease in the work group.
Do students have to report if they are ill with covid-19?
No, the students have no obligation either to report this to KTH. The student is responsible for infection tracing – not KTH.
What happens at the school if a student tests positive for covid-19?
If a student informs us that they have been tested positive, we change the courses that the student has participated in physically on campus to distance education, in order to limit the spread of infection.
Will the access cards be blocked?
No, we do not block access cards. At the Department of Machine Design, certain lab rooms have been closed to students.
Will there be staff reductions when all conferences, events, etc. are canceled?
No, we have no such plans.
Why isn’t it allowed to refurnish in ITM's premises?
The furniture is now placed to get sufficient distance between the people who will be sitting in the room, to reduce risk of spreading any disease.
Do we know what the infection situation looks like at ITM?
There are several confirmed cases among students at KTH and at ITM. KTH's goal is to try to reduce the spread of infection by, for example, converting courses to distance education. What we do at ITM is to reduce the risk of spreading infection, not to keep statistics on the number of infected – that’s the region or infection control’s task.
What happens if the infection increases again, do you think?
KTH follows developments and has a dialogue with the infection control authority in the Stockholm Region. KTH follows The Public Health Agency's recommendations and we are prepared if new recommendations were to be introduced for universities.
Text: Anna Gullers