Important reminders for COVID-19 and flu health and safety on campus
Last updated January 19, 2024
We want to remind our community of the importance of staying vigilant in our health and safety measures, and that each of us has a role to play in keeping ourselves and our fellow community members safe from COVID-19 and the flu.
While the university’s vaccination and mask policies are currently on pause and the university is no longer accepting proof of vaccinations, the university continues to monitor government and public health guidance, and will remain nimble in responding to changes and in planning for the future. The university may need to reinstate requirements for masking should public health indicators change.
4 key health and safety tips for COVID-19 and flu prevention
Stay up-to-date with vaccinations
As a primary health and safety measure, the university encourages all community members to be fully vaccinated, including the annual flu vaccination and COVID-19 booster shot(s) as recommended by public health.
While COVID-19 vaccination is no longer required in order to access campus, community members are encouraged to keep their vaccinations up to date.
In addition to COVID-19 vaccination, we encourage community members to stay up to date with all vaccinations as recommended by public health and medical practitioners, including the flu vaccine.
Consider wearing a mask, especially in areas where distancing is not feasible
While the university’s mask policy is currently on pause, the university continues to be a mask-friendly environment. Tight-fitting masks are useful indoors, particularly when sharing small enclosed spaces with others where physical distance cannot be maintained, such as elevators and small meeting rooms.
As a reminder, the university continues to have cloth, medical grade and fitted masks, such as N95s available for university community members who want them. For more information, visit the Masks and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) page online.
Practice good hand and respiratory hygiene
As cold and flu season continues, remember that hand and respiratory hygiene is key to our overall health and wellbeing:
- Wash your hands regularly with soap and water for at least 15 seconds — especially before handling food, after touching your face or shaking someone’s hand.
- Cover your mouth with a tissue when sneezing and coughing. Throw the tissue away and then wash your hands immediately.
- If you do not have a tissue, cough into your upper sleeve or elbow.
Stay home if you are unwell
With winter underway, it is even more important that all community members continue to self-monitor for symptoms and not come to campus if they feel unwell.
If you test positive for COVID-19, current guidance from the province includes staying home until your symptoms have been improving for 24 hours, provided you do not have a fever and have not developed additional symptoms.
For more information specific to COVID-19, review the Ontario government’s guidance on what to do if you have symptoms of COVID-19 (external link) .
Faculty and contract lecturer absenteeism due to illness, including COVID-19
If faculty or contract lecturers are experiencing mild symptoms of illness but are well enough, willing and able to teach their course(s), they should discuss this with their Chair/Director and consider temporarily delivering the course remotely/virtually until their conditions improve and they can return to on-campus teaching. The Chair/Director should make the Dean aware of the need to change the mode of delivery. For more information specific to COVID-19, review the Ontario government’s guidance on what to do if you have symptoms of COVID-19 (external link) .
If a faculty member or contract lecturer cannot attend class due to illness, they should follow normal, pre-pandemic sick leave processes on missing classes, which includes notifying their Chair/Director and students, and may include cancelling and rescheduling the class.
Staff absenteeism due to COVID-19
If an employee is experiencing symptoms, regular sick leave provisions should apply. We ask leaders to be flexible with employees as absences may increase through the winter months.
For more information
We continue to be appreciative of the support of our community in working together to limit the spread of COVID-19 and flu on campus. For more information, visit COVID-19 Information and Updates website.