Updated COVID-19 Guidelines for the WTI

Last week, the University of Bern published updated COVID guidelines. This reflects a decision by the Swiss Federal Council to further ease some COVID regulations. The changes in Swiss regulations are summarised here. The updated University guidelines can be found here.

Below is a summary of how this affects our current situation at the WTI:

• Lectures in person can resume, but only if they are offered in blended format. This is because the university needs to accommodate people who, for various reasons, are unable to attend classes and seminars in person. In addition, any in person teaching is subject to capacity limits (generally maximum 1/3 of usual capacity).  In practice, this means that almost all lectures and seminars will continue online, and not in person.   
• Social distancing rules remain in place, including masks, contact logs, etc.
• Home office rules remain in place.  
• Meetings remain digital (Zoom etc). No in person meetings at the WTI.
• External events remain banned. This means upcoming events will need to be virtual for the foreseeable future.

Students can continue to follow courses online, and will be notified when there is an option to attend specific lectures/seminars in person as well.

We expect lectures in the Fall to also be in blended format. This will depend on many factors, including the epidemiological situation. Any updates or changes will be published on the WTI website.