MESSAGE FROM DIANE HIEBERT-MURPHY, PROVOST AND VICE-PRESIDENT (ACADEMIC) AND NAOMI ANDREW, VICE-PRESIDENT (ADMINISTRATION)

COVID-19 health and safety update

As we approach a partial return to campus on February 28 including approximately 2,200 in-person courses/sections, we have updated health and safety protocols, with the well-being of the UM community continuing to be our top priority. We recognize that the province has an upcoming schedule for loosening restrictions. UM continues to meet or exceed the required health orders. The protocols below are effective February 22, until the end of Winter Term on May 3.

Mandatory vaccination

UM’s vaccine mandate requires all students and employees on campus to be double vaccinated and to have uploaded proof of vaccination on UM’s website, or to have received an approved medical or religious exemption. Rapid testing is no longer an alternative to vaccination.

Masking required

KN95 masks are required in all indoor spaces. The only exceptions are if you are alone in an office or room with the door closed, or while eating in areas designed for food consumption. No eye protection will be required except for specific occupational health and safety requirements (e.g., safety glasses in labs, clinical skills sessions).

Masks will not be required outdoors.

KN95 masks will be distributed by UM at tables set up in the locations below. Faculties and units will also have a supply of KN95 masks for employees. If you are coming to campus and do not have a KN95 mask, you can wear your own cloth or 3-ply mask on campus while you go immediately to the closest mask pick-up location. After the initial mask pick-up, it’s expected that employees and students will have a supply of KN95 masks to wear, including when attending the distribution locations to access more masks.

KN95 masks will be available in the following areas, Monday to Friday, 7am-3pm until March 11:

Beginning Feb. 22:
Fletcher Argue, near the IT Service Centre
UMSU University Centre

Beginning Feb. 28:
Engineering and Information Technology Complex (EITC) atrium
Extended Education Complex

Machray Hall Lobby

KN95 masks will also be available at the following libraries beginning Feb. 28:

Elizabeth Dafoe Library
Science & Technology Library
E. K. Williams Law Library
Neil John Maclean Health Sciences Library
Hours:
8:00 am to 11:00 pm Monday to Friday
10:00 am to 6:00 pm Saturday & Sunday

Architecture/Fine Arts Library
Archives & Special Collections
Eckhardt-Gramatté Music Library
Father Harold Drake (St. Paul’s College) Library
Hours:
8:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday to Friday

No physical distancing

There will be no physical distancing requirements in any classroom, lab, workplace or area on campus, except for locations specifically designated for food consumption, where masks can be removed while eating/drinking.

In-person activity resumes

In person activity, including events, will resume on campus with no approvals required for activities involving 100 people or less, where alcohol is not served. All activities must follow UM’s health and safety protocols.

For activities of 100 people or more, or where alcohol is served:

• Faculty/Unit-based events will require approval from the dean or unit head.
• Student-led activities on and off campus will require approval from the Vice-Provost (Students), Laurie Schnarr.
• All other activities will require an in-person activity request form to be submitted to the COVID Recovery Steering committee at crsc@umanitoba.ca.

Reporting illness

If you are not feeling well, stay at home or immediately go home.

Updated process charts are available on the COVID website health and safety page for those who are feeling unwell or are deemed close contacts by Public Health.

Close contacts are people who have shared space with a COVID-positive person during their period of communicability.  Specifically, these are people who were within two metres/six feet of a COVID-positive individual for a total of 10 minutes over a 24-hour period.  

If you are symptomatic or test positive for COVID-19 and need to self-isolate:

• Students enrolled in an in-person course should immediately contact their instructor to make arrangements for extensions, deferrals or make-up assignments without academic penalty. The missed academic work form can be used to help communicate with your instructor.
• Faculty and instructors teaching in-person should contact their dean or department head to make alternate arrangements for the course instruction.
• Staff working on campus should contact their supervisor to discuss their absence from work or if possible, make remote work arrangements.

Summer Term planning

At this time, we are looking forward to a full in-person return, effective Summer Term 2022. More information will be provided in the coming weeks.

For more information on health and safety measures to keep our campus community safe, visit UM’s COVID-19 website.