{"id":110474,"date":"2020-03-09T16:56:49","date_gmt":"2020-03-09T15:56:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=110474"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:24:44","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:24:44","slug":"your-own-hygiene-determines-how-fast-coronavirus-spreads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2020\/03\/09\/your-own-hygiene-determines-how-fast-coronavirus-spreads\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Your own hygiene determines how fast coronavirus spreads’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Patients with coronavirus have already been admitted to Erasmus MC and the virus has also been confirmed in a student from Delft. It is becoming increasingly likely that it will reach campus Woudestein soon. But what happens then? Rogier Ragetlie is coordinator of Integral Safety and responsible for setting up emergency teams.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tChris Gorzeman<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Is there a plan of action in response to coronavirus?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have an emergency organisation which focuses on all kinds of emergencies. These might be incidents which take place physically on campus, or things like coronavirus. That team now consists of people from student affairs, HR, communications, real estate and a director of operations from a faculty and it meets three times a week. If necessary, it can meet more often. We are prepared for every eventuality, but there\u2019s no specific plan for illnesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences and TU Delft, the advice is not to shake hands with people. That\u2019s still allowed here. How do you explain that difference?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAt TU Delft, the coronavirus has already been confirmed in a student, but we haven\u2019t got it yet. But even then, advising not to shake hands deviates from the RIVM guidelines. RIVM says that shaking hands isn\u2019t a problem so long as you consistently follow the rules of hygiene. Obviously, there will be people here who prefer not to shake hands and that\u2019s fine too. I\u2019m sure we can respect each other\u2019s feelings in this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suppose a student or member of staff at EUR gets coronavirus. How do you find out and what happens then?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things we do in the team is develop scenarios, and that\u2019s one of them. In principle, we find out through staff or HR or via the faculties when people report that they\u2019ve got it. The GGD does a contact survey and reports to the medical officers if anyone has been in contact with someone infected with the virus.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the scenario if a student or staff member has coronavirus?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s difficult to say, there\u2019s not one single scenario. It depends: has the person been on campus, how did they get infected? The scenarios we develop consider the impact on education, research, operational management and events.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018That\u2019s the most important factor: people\u2019s behaviour will determine how fast the virus spreads\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

But when should the lecture halls be closed?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThat would be a very serious measure, because that affects the students\u2019 study programme. We will close them if we are instructed to do so by the mayor in compliance with the Public Health Act, for example, but we\u2019re hoping that won\u2019t be necessary. On the other hand, the safety of students and staff is key, so we\u2019ll obviously do what\u2019s necessary. We\u2019re in constant communication with the Executive Board and the faculties. For staff: if you are more susceptible to getting the virus because you have a weakened immune system due to illness, you may talk to your manager about working from home. A few cases are known, but I don\u2019t have any statistics to show whether that will really result in more staff absence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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