All TU/e employees received an email yesterday evening at elven o’clock from university secretary Susanne van Weelden in which she urges everyone to work from home during the next seven days if possible. In her mail, Van Weelden says that with this step, TU/e follows the guidelines of the National Institute for Public Health and Environmental Protection (RIVM), which were updated last night.

Yesterday, prime minister Mark Rutte implored people in the country to stop shaking hands. In addition,people living in Noord-Brabant are being urged to work at home when possible during the next seven days, until March the 16th. The TU/e board asks its employees to follow these guidelines as well.

Educational activities will continue at the university. Staff members who have teaching obligations are expected to travel to campus. Employees should consult their supervisor/manager with regard to working from home. If this is possible, they are strongly urged to stay away from campus.

Working from home could result in a slower than usual VPN connection, since more people will be using it at the same time. That is why the board urges employees who work from home to use VPN only when necessary and to minimize usage. 

The RIVM’s earlier guidelines, according to which people working or living in Brabant who have a cough or suffer from a cold or a fever are asked to stay home, are obviously still in force. Those who are too sick to work need to go through the regular sick leave procedure.

The Career Expo, which takes places in the Auditorium and Atlas today and tomorrow, has not been cancelled as of yet. TU/e spokesman Ivo Jongsma says that the university will follow the RIVM guidelines - according to which activities such as these can still take place, also in Brabant - in this case as well. The university board and the crisis team are constantly in contact with the organizers of the event, Jongsma says. For more information about TU/e’s guidelines on Corona, go to www.tue.nl/corona.