Laurea's corona instructions

First and foremost, it is recommended to stay at home until all symptoms are gone. It is crucial that each member of the community still takes the coronavirus situation into account in their activities. Face masks are still available on all campuses, and everyone can still wear a mask at their own discretion.

Teaching arrangements 

Teaching will be carried out through the intended form of teaching (daytime, blended, or online teaching).

Contact teaching will be organised safely according to the following principles:

• In all campus activities, we emphasise safety, strive to keep sufficient distances and maintain good hygiene. Face masks can be worn at your own discretion.
• The study progress and competence development of students who are placed in quarantine or are absent for health reasons will be ensured through pedagogical solutions, such as independent learning assignments to compensate for the absences.

In its risk assessment, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare has assessed the likelihood of infection with coronavirus and the spread of the disease as minor, in contact teaching in higher education institutions. 

Organising events on campuses

Events can be organised on Laurea’s campuses. The event organiser is responsible for taking health security into account.

Travel abroad by students  

Student exchanges abroad are possible in countries where the level of safety specified in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs' travel advice is “noudata tavanomaista varovaisuutta” (adhere to normal safety measures) or “noudata erityistä varovaisuutta” (exercise special caution). It is the duty of those planning an international exchange to seek the Ministry for Foreign Affairs' travel advice for the target country, the up-to-date entry regulations and any national restrictions and recommendations. The implementation of placements abroad requires a separate risk assessment if the safety level specified in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs' travel advice for the target country is “vältä tarpeetonta matkustamista” (avoid unnecessary travel) or “vältä kaikkea matkustamista” (avoid all travel). Travel is not possible to countries where the safety level is “poistu maasta välittömästi” (leave the country immediately).

The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare recommends that all travellers travelling abroad are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus before the journey.

With questions related to travel, students may contact corona@laurea.fi.

Common instructions for maintaining safety  

Do not enter a campus unless you are completely healthy.  If you have any symptoms or get a positive result from a home test kit or an official coronavirus test:

• Do not enter the campus but stay at home. Agree on remote or absence arrangements with your teacher or supervisor. If you have become ill with coronavirus and have been on campus during the infectious period, we hope that you will report the matter simultaneously with the absence arrangements. This is important, so that we can inform the potential exposed persons, on a general level. As it is a question of health information, notification of an infection is voluntary.
• If you have been diagnosed with the coronavirus disease, it is recommended that you stay at home until you have been without symptoms for two days, and at least five days have elapsed from the beginning of the symptoms. Being without symptoms means that you have no fever, and the other symptoms are clearly in decline. If the only symptom is a change in your sense of smell or taste or an irritative cough, there is no need to continue isolation.
• Refer to instructions provided by your home municipality. If you experience symptoms or suspect exposure, you can fill in a coronavirus symptom checker on the omaolo.fi website. 

Exposure situations:

THL recommendations state that being in a classroom or similar space with a person with coronavirus constitutes a low-level risk of exposure. If the exposure situation occurs on the campus:

• The aim is to inform the persons who have been in the same room as a person with coronavirus of possible exposure, on a general level, including instructions for independently monitoring symptoms. When informing, it must be noted that the person who has become ill must not be identifiable. The supervisor or the teacher of the study unit is responsible for the informing.
• In case a member of staff is exposed to coronavirus in their work, they are expected to report the matter to corona@laurea.fi. The notification must include the name of the exposed person and a description of the incident (date and place of exposure, brief description of the situation). The employer is obliged to maintain a list of employees exposed to hazardous biological agents at work, including coronavirus (Occupational Safety and Health Act 738/2002, section 40a). With the help of an up-to-date list, the employer can monitor the overall situation of exposures and assess the adequacy of occupational safety and health measures.

If you live in the same household as a person who has had a positive home test or if you have otherwise been in close contact with a person who has received a positive result from a test done by health care:

• If possible, avoid contacts outside your home until it has been five days since the infected person started experiencing symptoms. If several family members become ill, the five days are counted from the last person to start showing symptoms.
• Wear a mask outside your home.
• Work or study from home if possible. If you are completely asymptomatic and there is no way you can work from home, you can come to campus wearing a mask and avoiding contacts.

In addition:

You can wear a face mask at your own discretion. We recommend wearing a mask indoors, for example, when it is difficult to avoid close contact with others. Laurea provides masks (either surgical masks or FFP2 masks) for the time being. The authorities recommend wearing a mask especially:

• for those seeking treatment or a test due to a suspected coronavirus infection
• for those with symptoms of respiratory tract infection if moving outside their home is unavoidable
• for those who know that they have been exposed to coronavirus (e.g., an infection has been diagnosed in their family) when close contacts outside their home cannot be avoided
• Maintain good hand and coughing hygiene. Everyone must immediately wash and sanitise their hands when entering campus facilities or moving from a space or classroom to another, and otherwise as necessary. 
• All activities shall be arranged with such safety distances as is possible, considering the special characteristics of the activities.
• In addition to enhanced cleaning, disinfection wipes are available for wiping down shared surfaces.
• We encourage all employees and students to get the recommended vaccines as soon as possible. 

Read more about transmission and protection (Finnish institute for Health and Welfare)