Universities no longer required to teach remotely after 1 June

“This is very pleasing news, it’s time to welcome our students back to campus. The pandemic has been characterised by difficult planning conditions, it’s good to receive clearer information now,” says Vice-Chancellor Anders Hagfeldt.

Although it will be possible to resume on-campus teaching from 1 June, the current infection situation and the general restrictions in force will need to be taken into account. From the autumn semester onwards, education can hopefully return to something approximating the pre-pandemic situation.

"If infection rates increase and further restrictions are imposed, it is possible to go online – we have already demonstrated this and have learnt more along the way. However, our forward planning must aim for the best possible education for students at Uppsala University, without restrictions. Teacher–student meetings and deepening conversations are important. Meeting in person also adds greatly to the value of the university experience for students, quite apart from their education as such. Studying at Uppsala University includes experiencing the environment, the nations, the city and the whole breadth of the University and its cultural offerings," says Anders Hagfeldt.

This week's COVID-19 report

Uppsala University reports some of the lowest figures for confirmed cases since it started to monitor developments.

– The report shows only 5 confirmed cases among students and 4 among staff. Needless to say, we find this very encouraging, says Fredrik Blomqvist, Uppsala University's Chief Security Officer.

Infection status report

To summarise the infection situation, as of 28 May, there have been 952 confirmed cases of COVID-19 at Uppsala University since the start of the 2020 autumn semester.

This figure breaks down as follows:

• 738 Bachelor’s and Master’s students – an increase of 5 cases
• 15 doctoral students – no increase
• 199 members of staff – an increase of 4 cases

If you are confirmed infected with COVID-19, the Communicable Diseases Act requires you to inform people who have been in your proximity and whom you may have infected.
Uppsala University has created an online procedure to help you do this anonymously.

If you are confirmed infected with COVID-19, it is very important that you make sure to stay at home: Do not go to campus, exam rooms or work. And keep up to date with the current rules of conduct.

Breakdown by disciplinary domain

The 738 Bachelor’s and Master’s students confirmed infected are distributed across the disciplinary domains as follows (change from previous week in parentheses):

• Hum/Sam – 295 (+3) confirmed cases
• Med/Farm – 309 (+2) confirmed cases
• Tek/Nat – 134 (+/-0) confirmed cases
  

Managing confirmed infections in education

When an infection is confirmed, the disciplinary domain concerned deals with the question of whether teaching should continue to be conducted on campus (if that is currently being done) or whether there is reason to switch to online education. Region Uppsala carries out contact tracing and contacts the individuals deemed necessary in view of the contacts reported by the infected person. The University has no responsibility for this process.

Information concerning international students and staff

International employees and students who need to have a COVID-19 test cannot make an appointment via 1177.
Anyone in this group should call (Region Uppsala) 018-617 35 64 to make an appointment.
The number in Region Gotland is 0498-26 89 31.

Number of cases in Region Uppsala and Region Gotland

Number of people confirmed infected in Region Uppsala: Week 18 (3 - 9 May) – 1197, week 19 (10 - 16 May) – 788 and week 20 (17 May - 23 May) – 487.
Number of people confirmed infected in Region Gotland: Week 18 (3 - 9 May) – 108, week 19 (10 - 16 May) – 96 and week 20 (17 May - 23 May) – 69.
Source: Public Health Agency of Sweden

Number of people vaccinated in Uppsala County

On 27 May, 135,103 residents (+12,822) had received their first dose of vaccine and 50,371 (+12,760) of these had also received their second dose.

Number of people vaccinated in Gotland County

On 26 May, 26,835 residents had received vaccine and of these had 8,300 received their second dose.

Johan Ahlenius