With vaccination rates ramping up all across the globe, things are finally looking up following the scathing effect Covid-19 has upon our lives. However, vaccination doesn’t necessarily translate to our lives going back to what it was pre-Covid, but instead we must live in a new normal where we must adjust and live with the virus that is now categorised as endemic.
Students staying in University campuses for example will have to adhere to more rules and regulations than before the Covid-19 pandemic. Nothing exemplifies this more than the new regulations for both students and staff at the National University of Singapore (NUS). In order to ensure that NUS campus would not become a hotspot for Covid-19, its management has decided to enforce strict health guidelines.
These include the requirement for students and staff to take frequent Covid-19 tests and make a health declaration. Furthermore, it is also compulsory for them to have Singapore’s Covid-19 tracing app, TraceTogether installed on their phones.
Furthermore, those who don’t comply with NUS’ health guidelines will be barred from using the University’s facilities such as Wi-Fi, e-mail account and even the student portal which is required if students want to access and submit their course assignments.
Screenshots of the new regulations were shared on the Singapore subreddit r/singapore on the social site Reddit below:
According to the new NUS regulation, starting November 2021, students on campus without a valid Covid-19 self test kit result called the Fast and Easy Test (FET), Health Declaration or TraceTogether installed on their mobile phones will have their Wi-Fi access in campus restricted. Moreover, they will also be blocked from all campus applications including LumiNUS, the University’s student portal for the day.
The only function available to them via the various campus applications and Wi-Fi is the ability to upload their Covid-19 test result.
As for staff on NUS campus, if they don’t comply with Covid-19 guidelines, they will have the access to their email accounts restricted for the day.
The NUS health guideline also affects students not residing on campus too and in fact, it’s far stricter.
Basically, all NUS staff and students not staying on campus must take regular Covid-19 self test in order to have access to NUS Wi-Fi and will be blocked from accessing their student portal for the day. For those fully vaccinated, their Covid-19 self test kit result is only valid for 7 days before they have to take another one and for those unvaccinated, the Covid-19 self test kit result is only valid for 4 days before they have to take another one.
Thankfully, the self test kits called FET will be fully subsidised by NUS for all their students and staff, so while taking regular self tests is troublesome, at least it won’t be burdensome financially.
What do you guys think of NUS’ health guidelines for their students and staff? Do you think something similar should be done by Universities and tertiary education institution in Malaysia? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
Also read: JPA: It Is Compulsory For Civil Servants To Be Fully Vaccinated Before 1 November
