A message from Royal Holloway, University of London, in relation to coronavirus

At Royal Holloway, University of London, we are closely monitoring the outbreak of coronavirus and are following advice from Public Health England and the National Health Service (NHS). At this time all activity at Royal Holloway continues as normal.

The health and well-being of our students, staff and our community is of utmost importance to us and we are ensuring that they are aware of the government’s advice about coronavirus.

Colds and flu are common at this time of year and we are reminding everyone on campus about simple steps we can all take to try to minimise the spread of viruses generally. These are:

• Always carry tissues with you and use them to catch your cough or sneeze.
• Bin the tissue, and to kill the germs, wash your hands with soap and water or use sanitiser gel.

As per government guidance, we have told all students and staff who have arrived back from Hubei Province, including Wuhan city, in the last 14 days to contact us and follow specific advice provided by the government. In addition, we have had updated advice from Public Health England that travellers from mainland China, Thailand, Japan, Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia or Macau who have arrived in the UK in the last 14 days who develop symptoms of cough, fever or shortness of breath, even if symptoms are mild, should follow the same specific advice provided by the government. We are also advising staff not to travel to China and to consider postponing any trips to affected areas of Asia. 

We have also informed students and staff of the latest advice from the government which states that if you have also travelled from Iran, specific lockdown areas in Northern Italy as designated by the Government of Italy, special care zones in South Korea as designated by the Government of the Republic of South Korea, since 19 February, you should immediately self-isolate and stay indoors for 14 days, avoiding contact with other people as you would with the flu and call NHS 111 to inform them of your recent travel to the area.

In addition the government is advising people to self-isolate and call NHS 111 if they have symptoms and have returned from the following places since 19 February from Northern Italy (defined by the paragraph above, and not including, Pisa, Florence and Rimini), Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar.

This is a particularly difficult time for our students and staff with family, friends and colleagues living and working in China and other areas currently affected by the outbreak of coronavirus. We hope that our whole community will be sensitive and supportive at this time. 

In some cultures it is common practice for people to wear face masks to protect themselves from illness, even indoors, and it should not be assumed that anyone wearing one is unwell.

If any of our students are victim of or witness to racial harassment, abuse or violence we are encouraging them to contact our Student Advisory and Wellbeing, Security, Students’ Union or Surrey Police. If any of our staff are a victim of, or witness to racial harassment, abuse or violence we are encouraging them to contact their line manager, Security or Surrey Police. More information about hate crime and how the Police and Crown Prosecution Service will act on such behaviour is available here.

If you are a student and would like more information, please visit the student intranet.

If you are a member of staff and would like more information, please visit the staff intranet.