U of L addresses COVID-19 concerns

Mahon said a committee has been formed on campus to ensure that the school is addressing all issues related to the coronavirus.

“It’s important to understand that we’re working very closely with key partners, of course Alberta Health Services, our other university or college partners both here in the city as well as around the province of Alberta,” he stated.

After the Government of Alberta issued a directive Thursday afternoon to cancel all events exceeding 250 people, the U-of-L issued a statement indicating it would be complying with the directive

Mahon added that officials from post-secondary institutions across the province will be meeting tomorrow (March 13) and COVID-19 will be a topic of discussion.

He said the school understands how challenging the situation is.

“We are working through all of the issues on an hour-by hour, day-by-day perspective,” Mahon said.

“I do want to assure the public that this is of the utmost importance to us and as an institution we take this issue seriously both in terms of the importance of addressing the needs of our students, our faculty and staff but of course related to all of the external community that have a relationship with the University of Lethbridge in terms of both coming on to our campus as well as receiving various services and support from the University of Lethbridge.”

For details on what Lethbridge College is doing, use this link.

CAMPUS COMMITTEE

Chief Safety Officer Doug Mackie is leading the on-campus committee.

He said they’re promoting a message of remaining calm.

“We’ve been meeting since January in a large-scale to identify any concerns that we might need to address. We have been delivering consistent messaging to our campus community regarding our activities and what we’re preparing to do and what we’re preparing for,” Mackie stated.

He added that the U of L has suspended some of its recruiting teams to areas of the world that have been impacted by COVID-19.

They’ve also posted information to the U of L website as a resource guide for students, faculty, staff and the public.

The school has also contacted students who are abroad to discuss options for them to continue their studies and/or return home.

He said those options are still in discussion, but the U of L wants to be supportive of all of its students.

“We are in the process of creating a health registry for campus staff, students and faculty to register with and it will address anyone within the campus community who may present symptoms. They can register as either a student or employee and will be contacted by Student Services or our HR department with information and accommodations, either academic or job-related,” Mackie said.

He said they’ve also set up an event registry to register all upcoming events.

“This allows us to understand the scope of what might be coming and the contingency plans that we might need to make,” he said.

As for school athletics, Mackie stated that no sporting events have been cancelled as of Thursday.

“The risk still remains low in Lethbridge, with no confirmed cases, so on that basis we’ve decided to leave a lot of our events running,” he said.

Mackie addressed some rumours of cases of the novel coronavirus being detected at the University of Lethbridge.

“No, there are not. We’re aware of those rumours as well and I can confirm that no cases are presumptive or otherwise,” he said.

LNN has received an email from a U of L student, which came from a professor. It stated that one student is self-isolating.

However, it has not been confirmed if that student has contracted the novel coronavirus.

ONLINE COURSES

Mackie said some of the courses at the U of L require active in-class participation, but they do have a team preparing to switch courses to an online model if necessary.

“It is something [switch to online classes] that is going to take a little more effort but we are preparing for that eventuality,” he stated.

“Our efforts to date are for planning to remain open and to continue to deliver the services that the U of L is known for.”

Mackie stated that the school, like provincial and federal health officials, is discouraging international and non-essential travel.

He said their efforts thus far have been focused on preventing a case of COVID-19 from entering the school campus and they are pushing prevention methods such as hand washing and maintaining a social distance.

“Those have been our efforts to date on campus, to provide that direction to people and it gives them an opportunity to take personal responsibility in this situation and I think that’s key as well [and] we do have a little bit more control than we’d hope.”

Mackie said there is a multitude of sanitizer dispensers set up around the campus, with televisions across the facility broadcasting health and safety tips.

“I think any emergency requires serious attention, so whether it is SARS, H1N1 or COVID, I think we’re obligated to take a very serious look at it and plan accordingly.”

In addition to working with Alberta Health Services, the U of L is working with the City of Lethbridge to address any coronavirus-related concerns.

He said they are “taking care of business” and panicking would be counter-productive to their prevention efforts.

by Justin Goulet

U of L addresses COVID-19 concerns

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