Corona-News

The crisis committees of the City and StädteRegion of Aachen have opened a second municipal smear centre in the Tivoli in Aachen. The first one is located in Eschweiler. Up to 600 citizens per day can now be tested there. The facility in Eschweiler has already been running since 4 March. Very important: “All people who want to be tested must first call the telephone hotline on 0241/5198-7500. You cannot simply come to the smear centre. And even with a doctor’s referral, you have to call the hotline beforehand,” explains Andreas Nowak, head of the municipal smear centre. Deaf people can send an e-mail to KAZ-Leitung@staedteregion-aachen.de to get an appointment after testing.

Dr. Verena Bochat from the public health department of StädteRegion Aachen adds: “The two centres are intended to relieve doctors’ practices and hospitals of the burden of testing and to bundle information at the responsible public health department. Doctors’ surgeries and hospitals can thus concentrate more on treating patients, but can also continue testing themselves if need be”.

In view of the progressive spread of the corona virus and the associated effects on society, RWTH Aachen University has decided to cancel the festivities for its 150th birthday this year. “We find ourselves in a difficult situation where none of us feels like celebrating. There are much more important things than the birthday of our university”, explains the university’s rector, Professor Ulrich Rüdiger.

Even RWTH’s “Science Evening” in Berlin on 11 March 2020 did not take place. Now the university management and the anniversary steering committee have decided to cancel all further events for the current year. All other centrally organized RWTH events have also been cancelled for the coming months, including the university’s graduate party on September 5, 2020.

A later version of the anniversary events under the motto “Lernen. Forschen. Machen.” will be scheduled at another time, when the crisis situation is more manageable. Corresponding plans will be announced in due course. It has already been decided that the joint anniversary exhibition of the City of Aachen and RWTH, which was to be opened on 15 May 2020 at the Centre Charlemagne, will be postponed until winter semester 2021/22.

Originally, blood donation was to take place exclusively in the Couvenhalle (Kármánstraße 17 to 19) from 23 March to 17 April 2020. However, due to the distancing regulation of at least two metres that came into force at the beginning of the week, blood donation must be moved from the Couvenhalle to the Sparkassenforum SuperC, Templergraben 57. This new regulation applies for the present from 30 March until 17 April. The donation time is Mondays to Fridays from 11:30 to 17 o’clock. Today and tomorrow (26/27 March) donations can still be made in the Couvenhalle, but from 30 March onwards they will be made exclusively at Templergraben 57. Further information can be found here.

In Germany, BAföG regulations are changing. Anyone who is involved in the fight against the current corona pandemic in the health care system, in social institutions or in agriculture will be credited for the additional income only for the period of their activity. The German Bundestag today passed a corresponding amendment to the law. According to the current law, the total amount of earned income is credited against BAföG for all months of an approval period.

“In the current exceptional situation we must stand together and mobilise all our forces. If, for example, students with medical knowledge get involved in the healthcare system, this will be a valuable contribution to overcoming the pandemic crisis. We want to motivate young people and support them in this. To this end, we are amending BAföG,” explained Federal Research Minister Anja Karliczek in a press release. The willingness of many students to work for our health system deserves support and recognition. It is also important, she said, that all BAföG recipients have clarity and planning certainty in the current crisis. “If schools and universities are closed due to the pandemic, BAföG will continue to be paid. I already clarified this in a decree a week and a half ago. Nobody should worry about their BAföG because of the corona virus,” emphasised Karliczek.

In an interdisciplinary team, RWTH scientists have developed a very simple respiratory pump for corona infected patients. This pump is to be used exclusively when there are major bottlenecks in hospitals or emergency care facilities.

The pump actuates conventional ventilation bags, so-called ambu-bags, which are normally used for “manual” ventilation. In addition to the ambu-bags, plastic parts from the 3D printer, an electric motor, power supply and small parts – such as screws – are required to build a ventilator pump. A standard FDM 3D printer with at least a 20 x 20-centimeter construction panel is sufficient to produce the plastic parts.

A respiration pump can be built within one day. Thus even volunteers with access to a 3D printer could quickly produce a larger number. The building instructions are available at www.coresponse.rwth-aachen.de, where volunteers with access to a 3D printer can also register.

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) supports the initiative of the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK) for the summer semester 2020 that this should not be credited towards BAföG or counted as a standard period of study, as the corona epidemic will foreseeably make normal classroom teaching impossible. At the same time, the DAAD suggests that the approximately 300,000 foreign students in Germany should receive more support in the current situation. “We emphatically welcome the HRK’s considerations,” said DAAD President Prof. Dr. Joybrato Mukherjee in a statement issued by the service. “In these difficult times, we must all work together to ensure that German and international students do not suffer any disadvantages as a result of the postponement and cancellation of courses and examinations in connection with Corona”. The DAAD would like to call the summer semester an ‘optional semester’, which, in contrast to the obligatory regular semester, offers a wide range of opportunities to try out digital teaching and examination formats and to expand existing models.

In addition, the DAAD President suggested that international students and their social situation in the corona crisis should be given more attention. “We can see that financial emergencies are arising which could lead to a large number of international students no longer being able to afford their studies and livelihood in Germany,” said DAAD Secretary-General Dr. Dorothea Rüland. This must be prevented, she said. The DAAD therefore proposed that the universities be provided with appropriate funds, which would allow them to provide bridge money to students who are particularly affected, in accordance with clear guidelines.

The Fab Lab of RWTH Aachen University makes its 3D printers, laser cutters, and other digital production machines available for the rapid production of urgently needed parts in the medical sector. In the fight against the corona pandemic, items such as visors for doctors, emergency ventilators for hospitals, and forearm door handles for office doors can be produced. The parts reach local and regional institutions that need to maintain their operations. “We cannot supply certified medical products. But we can help provide for emergencies, where regular hospital stocks are no longer sufficient. Items such as forearm door handles reduce the risk of infection in offices at important institutions. “These are not medical products,” explains Professor Jan Borchers, head of the Media Computing Group at RWTH, where the Fab Lab is located.

The researchers are thus part of a worldwide community organized via social media, where it collects 3D designs for emergency equipment, evaluates their necessity and medical suitability, and then has them produced locally by volunteers. The Fab Lab is supported by the State of North Rhine-Westphalia through the initiative Excellence Start-up Center.NRW at RWTH Aachen University. Prototypes for the examples outlined above are now in production, and the Fab Lab is already working with Uniklinik RWTH Aachen. The team is now seeking contact with other hospitals and similar institutions in the region to meet their specific needs.

Press release

For the 2020 summer semester, the German Rectors’ Conference (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz – HRK) calls for disadvantages, especially for students and young researchers, to be limited in the wake of the restrictions caused by the spread of the corona virus. “The nationwide tightening of the contact restrictions in force since Monday in order to contain the corona crisis shows the dynamics of the current situation. Despite these difficult circumstances, the universities attach great importance to maintaining scientific operations in the summer semester 2020. Our sincere thanks and appreciation go to all university members who are doing their utmost to promote teaching and research in the given situation,” explained HRK President Prof. Dr. Peter-André Altin in a press release.

In principle, the 2020 summer semester must definitely be recognised as a regular part of a degree programme or qualification. “In the interests of the students, teachers and researchers, this must not be a wasted semester. All efforts of the universities are aimed at continuing scientific work as comprehensively as possible. This means that for students, this time must count as a period of study if they wish to do so. And for teachers and researchers, there must be no gaps in their biographies in terms of teaching experience or research achievements,” added HRK Vice-President Prof. Dr. Ulrich Radtke. “We want to open up as many examination and degree options as possible and make them legally compliant. However, it is essential that we take into account the fact that many candidates are currently only able to prepare themselves under difficult conditions and that, despite all our efforts, face-to-face courses and examinations can only be partially replaced by digital formats. This must not be to the detriment of those concerned. Compensating for disadvantages, for example by not counting the semester towards the standard period of study or by postponing examination dates, is extremely important for all students, but especially for socially weaker students or students who have to care for families and children. We must also think of the medical students who now support the clinics. Thankfully, the Federal Government has already made a corresponding provision for BAföG,” said HRK President Alt, who also sees the crisis as an opportunity: “The universities will take their responsibility seriously. Science is geared towards solving problems and will therefore also use the opportunities for action offered by digitisation as far as possible”.

Together with the other federal states, the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia has issued a far-reaching ban on contact. The “Ordinance for Protection Against New Infection with the Corona Virus” (CoronaSchVO) is to be understood as a minimum standard.

The following regulations must be observed in all areas of RWTH:

• Physical work meetings of two or more people may only be carried out if they are absolutely necessary for the current operation of RWTH and a digital form of work cannot be arranged, even with restrictions.
• A minimum distance of two meters between two people must be observed for all activities. If this is not possible, the activity may only take place under compensation measures previously agreed with the occupational safety department.
• §1 (1) of the CoronaSchVo. prohibits travelers returning from risk areas from entering the area. The prohibition of entry for persons coming from risk areas naturally also applies to the employees of external contractors.
• Infected university members (not simply suspected cases) must be reported immediately to the university medical center.

In the City and StädteRegion of Aachen, police forces and regulatory authorities continued to dissolve crowds of people in parks and on football fields and playgrounds even at the weekend. Some parties also had to be disbanded, and charges had to be laid in cases of non-compliance. The NRW state government’s legal regulations stipulate that “the authorities are required to implement legal regulations by enforcing the provisions vigorously, consistently and, where necessary, with coercive means”. Local authorities are supported in this respect by the police. In a statement, the city confirmed that violations will be prosecuted as administrative offenses with fines of up to EUR 25,000 and as crimes with prison sentences of up to five years. The authorities are required to set fines of at least EUR 200.