Information about Corona pandemic

The Office for Equal Opportunities and Family Affairs has compiled all the important information for you on its website and is also available for further questions and advice.

>> see also the "Family at the university" website

The University of Erfurt has set up a crisis team. It continuously assesses the very rapidly changing situation regarding the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19) and makes recommendations to the Presidential Board regarding suitable protective measures. The crisis team follows the recommendations of the Robert Koch Institute in its assessment and is in close contact with the Student services organisation (Studierendenwerk), the city of Erfurt, the Thuringian Ministry of Economics, Science and Digital Society and the other Thuringian universities.

At the beginning of the pandemic, the crisis management team developed a catalogue of measures, the implementation of which is intended to protect the health of employees, students and other people. These measures include temporarily suspending campus attendance, switching to digital teaching and learning formats, temporarily suspending business trips and making working hours more flexible. In addition, a protection concept has been drawn up which will be updated as necessary. The current version can be found here.

Persons who have had contact with a person infected with the coronavirus should test themselves closely, observe the cough and sneeze etiquette and the rules on distance and hand hygiene, and avoid unnecessary contact for the time being.

In the event of acute respiratory symptoms or a positive self-test result, you as a student should do the following:

• Please go into quarantine, which should last at least five days. If you are still positive after this time, please remain in quarantine until the test is negative. You do not need another test from an official testing centre.
• Notify people with whom you had close contact shortly before you became ill. Install the Corona warning app on your mobile phone if you have not already done so. Report your illness to the Corona warning app.
• Please inform the Department 1: Registrar's Office immediately by e-mail about your illness (studierendenangelegenheiten@uni-erfurt.de // Corona notification form). If the department receives your test result immediately, the staff there will excuse you from courses and examinations with the lecturer. The department can also inform all teachers of the courses you have attended in the past three days via serial e-mails that a participant of the past sessions has subsequently tested positive for Corona, without mentioning your name. The teacher can then inform all participants how he/she plans to proceed with the teaching in the next session.
• If you have severe symptoms and need to see a doctor, it is best to call your family doctor's office to find out what to do next. Are you new to Erfurt and don't have a doctor yet? The internet will give you a list of doctora and polyclinics in Erfurt. Outside surgery hours and at weekends, you can contact the emergency service of the "Kassenärztlicher Notdienst": HELIOS Klinikum, Nordhäuser Str. 74, 99089 Erfurt, Tel.: 116117 or 0361 781-4833/34.

The following applies to staff:
Employees with a positive self-test result should immediately contact their supervisor by phone or e-mail and also the Department 2: Human Resources at e-mail: personal@uni-erfurt.de. Together with you, the human resources team will then discuss how to proceed, e.g. the possibility of teleworking or mobile working.

No, there is currently no legal basis for this.

But: The number of infections with Corona has been increasing significantly again since autumn 2022. Against this background, the Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Erfurt, Professor Gerd Mannhaupt, has appealed to students and staff to protect themselves and others from Corona infection by wearing suitable masks. The Student Council also expressly supports this appeal. It is true that the legal situation does not (yet) offer the possibility of obliging students to wear masks indoors. Nevertheless, the university management asks all university members to protect themselves and others by responsibly and independently wearing mouth-nose protection in situations where a minimum distance of 1.50 m between themselves and others cannot be maintained. Especially in the seminar rooms and lecture halls, all but those speaking at the time should wear a mask without being asked to do so.

However, staff and guests of the university who are not involved in teaching are also asked to wear a mask indoors, to keep the appropriate distance and to ventilate the rooms sufficiently. (see infection control concept).

With simple measures you can help to protect yourself and others from the corona virus:

• When coughing or sneezing, keep the greatest possible distance from other people - and it is best to turn away.
• Sneeze or cough into the crook of your arm or into a handkerchief - and then dispose of the handkerchief in a bin with a lid.
• Washing hands regularly and thoroughly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds is considered a sufficient hygiene measure. In particular, this hygiene measure must be taken after blowing the nose, sneezing or coughing. 

A brochure from the Federal Centre for Health Education provides further tips. (only available in german)

The Robert Koch Institute has published an orientation guide on this.

Yes, since 1 November 2021, staff and students of the University of Erfurt can also access the campus network from home via a so-called VPN access. The access is activated on the basis of the open source application eduVPN. Documentation on setting up and using eduVPN can be found via the following link on the University Computer and Media Centre (URMZ) website: www.uni-erfurt.de/universitaetsrechen-und-medienzentrum/beratung-und-hilfe/weiteres/vpn. A separate application for this service is not necessary. The VPN access can be used with the already known user account (Uni-Login). Please note the usage guidelines as a matter of urgency.

The staff of the University Computer and Media Centre will be happy to answer any questions and provide support.