On the basis of the legal specifications and out of concern for all University members, the Crisis Management Team, in consultation with the University Management, has agreed upon the following travel regulations: as soon as someone exhibits any COVID-19 symptoms, they are expressly prohibited from entering the RWTH premises.
Business trips for employees:
RWTH will not approve any business trips to risk areas at present. If an employee returns from a country that has been subsequently classified as a risk area, and if the local health department does not issue a quarantine order or shortens the quarantine period for special reasons, the employee must still work from home for the first week following their return.
Private travel by employees:
The Crisis Management Team urgently appeals to all employees to refrain from personal travel to risk areas when it is not absolutely necessary. If, however, employees do go on such trips, the respective superiors should be informed in advance so that work arrangements can be planned ahead of time. Irrespective of the health authority’s decision regarding quarantine, these employees must always work remotely from home for the first week after their return.
Guests/visitors from risk areas:
The Crisis Management Team strongly recommends refraining from in-person meetings and switching to videoconferencing formats or the like. If guests etc. arrive from risk areas (e.g. because they planned a stay in Europe for longer than two weeks), the host institution must inform them of the obligation to register with the responsible health department (usually that of Städteregion Aachen). Regardless of the public health department’s decision on a quarantine order, these guests are also not permitted to enter the RWTH premises until one week after their arrival at the earliest.
Regulation for students coming from risk areas:
Students who are only in Germany for up to 72 hours in order to complete or prepare for their exams, are not obligated to follow the quarantine and notification obligation at the public health department, according to (§2 (3) 3 CoronaEinrVO). Students who plan to stay longer than 72 hours after arriving in Germany must, however, report to the Health Office immediately. The public health department can shorten the quarantine period if students present a negative test result. As soon as the (shortened) quarantine period is over, students may attend courses and take exams at RWTH.
Host institutions must actively inform students about the reporting obligations and quarantine regulations. For some individual students from risk areas, supervision of the written exam can be offered via Zoom. The Examination Boards have already received detailed information regarding this option.
Finally, the University would like to point out how important it is that all members do their best to follow the current rules responsibly. Incidences of COVID-19 diseases have already occurred in the RWTH community. In most cases, a large-scale quarantine of contact persons could be avoided because the infected individuals had diligently followed the rules about hygiene and avoiding contact with others.