Archive: January – June 2021

June 10, 2021

The situation from June 10, 2021

1. Entrance to the MFF UK buildings

As of June 10, 2021, the entrance to the buildings of the MFF UK is not restricted by the type of activities. However, as the extraordinary state at Charles University is extended till June 25, 2021, and as the Rector’s Directive No. 8/2021 favoring Home Office still applies (until further notice), we recommend always considering the reasons for your stay in the faculty buildings.

The medical conditions for entry remain the same, that is, entrance to the buildings of the MFF UK is allowed for persons who:

1. have a certificate of a negative Covid-19 test (antigen or PCR) not older than seven days;
2. or demonstrate that they have undergone laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 disease, have no signs of COVID-19 disease, and no more than 180 days have elapsed since the first positive test; if the person no longer has the proof of the relevant positive test, an affidavit can be used;
3. or have been vaccinated against COVID-19 and demonstrate that
   1. at least 22 days but not more than 90 days have elapsed since the first dose of vaccine in the case of a two-dose schedule if the second dose has not been administered,
   2. or, at least 22 days but not more than nine months have elapsed since the first dose of vaccine in the case of a two-dose schedule if the second dose has been administered,
   3. or, in the case of a single-dose schedule, at least 14 days but not more than 9 months have elapsed since the administration of the vaccine,

and the vaccinated person shows no symptoms of COVID-19.

Confirmation of the vaccination (including the first dose) can usually be obtained from the server https://ocko.uzis.cz/.

In the case of employees of the MFF UK, copies of the documents mentioned in points a), b) and c) above are still collected and archived at their departments; in the case of students and other persons, they shall present the documents to the examiner or the person whom they are meeting for a consultation or other activity.

2. Respiratory protection

All persons in the buildings of the MFF UK are obliged to use respirators of class FFP2 (at least), with the following exemption (from June 8, 2021, until further notice):

1. examiners and students during exams and teachers and students during consultations or other activities related to teaching and exams as long as distancing of at least 1,5 meters is maintained; updated instructions for exam period of the summer semester 2020/21 can be found here.
2. faculty and other employees in their office (laboratory) provided distancing of at least 1,5 meters is maintained.

3. Business trips

Before applying for a business trip, the traveler is obliged to find out and consider the conditions for entering the country and returning from it so that the trip and return can take place without complications. Detailed conditions for trips to individual countries are available on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
https://www.mzv.cz/jnp/en/index.html - OVERVIEW: Travel rules

At the same time, please pay attention to the classification of individual countries according to the degree of risk of infection on the website of the Ministry of Health
https://koronavirus.mzcr.cz/en/list-of-countries-according-to-the-level-of-risk/   

It is not allowed to travel to countries that are currently marked as countries with an extreme risk of infection. Permission to travel to other countries is the responsibility of the person approving the trip, typically the head of the department.

After returning from any foreign trip, consider taking a PCR test before entering the faculty premises, especially if you anticipate meeting with more people (e.g., for an exam).

The Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK

May 25, 2021

The situation in the last week of May

1. Entrance to the MFF UK buildings

In accordance with the Appendix No. 1 to Government Resolution No. 474, issued on May 21, 2021, starting from May 24, 2021, entrance to the buildings of the MFF UK is allowed for persons who:

1. have a certificate of a negative Covid-19 test (antigen or PCR) not older than 7 days;
2. or demonstrate that they have undergone laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 disease, have no signs of COVID-19 disease, and no more than 180 days have elapsed since the first positive test; if the person no longer has the proof of the relevant positive test, an affidavit can be used;
3. or have been vaccinated against COVID-19 and demonstrate that
   1. at least 22 days but not more than 90 days have elapsed since the first dose of vaccine in the case of a two-dose schedule, if the second dose has not been administered
   2. or, at least 22 days but not more than 9 months have elapsed since the first dose of vaccine in the case of a two-dose schedule, if the second dose has been administered,
   3. or, in the case of a single-dose schedule, at least 14 days but not more than 9 months have elapsed since the administration of the vaccine,

   and the vaccinated person shows no symptoms of COVID-19.

Please note that the Rector's Directive favoring Home Office still applies. Thus, entry to the MFF UK buildings remains limited to activities listed under „2. Entrance to the MFF UK buildings" from the statement of the Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK dated March 16, 2021. In addition, entry to the buildings is also permitted to participate in or carry out all the activities listed in the statement of the Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK dated May 20, 2021.

For employees of the MFF UK, paper or electronic copies of the documents mentioned in points a), b) and c) above will be collected and archived at their departments; students and other persons shall present the documents to the examiner or the person whom they are meeting for a consultation or other activity.

2. Libraries

On May 31, 2021, all branches of the MFF UK library will open. Entrance to the library will follow the same rules as entrance to the building at a given time; in particular, respirator use and demonstrating covid test/disease/vaccination will follow the rules valid on the given day.

The opening hours are:
Mon 9am – 1pm
Wed 9am – 1pm
Fri 9am – 1pm

Please note that all readers may use return boxes in front of libraries to return books. Study rooms can be visited at all branches, but entry will be possible only for students and employees of Charles University, not for the general public. The capacity of the study rooms will be limited to the number of study places and 15 m² of space per person, and it will be necessary to maintain the distance of 1.5 meters among people.

In very exceptional cases and only by prior arrangement, it will be possible to hand over the ordered books in front of the building. Distance loans will continue as before, see https://www.mff.cuni.cz/cs/knihovna/aktuality/distancni-vypujcky-z-knihovny-mff-uk.

The Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK

May 20, 2021

End of the summer semester and its examination period

1. Teaching and exams

Although in-person teaching is possible from May 24, 2021, according to the resolutions of the Government of the Czech Republic, for most of the courses, the MFF UK will stick to the remote form of teaching for the remaining few weeks of the semester. If needed, in-person teaching is possible for small seminars, assuming a consensus of teachers and students of the seminar. Consultations are also allowed provided that distance of 1,5 meters among people is maintained.

Exams, tests for course credits and other forms of study control can take the in-person or remote form. More detailed instructions on how to perform the exams are described in the text of the Vice-Dean for Student Affairs.

We ask the teachers to use the capacity of lecture rooms for exams and tests to a maximum of about 25 % - 30 % of the room's capacity to ensure the required distancing.

2. Entrance to the MFF UK buildings

Please note that the Rector's Directive No. 8/2021, favoring Home Office, still applies. Thus, entry to the MFF UK buildings remains limited to activities listed under item 2 “Entrance to the MFF UK buildings” from the statement of the Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK dated March 16, 2021.

However, from May 24, entry to the buildings is also permitted to participate in or carry out all the activities listed in the previous paragraph “Teaching and exams”. The entrance condition "negative test or completed vaccination or recovered from Covid-19" still applies (more details in the above-mentioned text of the Vice-Dean for Student Affairs).

Of course, everybody should follow the "hands-respirators-distancing-reason" rule.

We wish all employees and students a good and successful completion of the semester, hoping that this is the last semester affected by Covid-19 to such an extent.

The Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK

May 5, 2021

The situation from May 10, 2021

1. Entrance to the MFF UK buildings, Teaching

In accordance with the Appendix No. 1 to Government Resolution No. 433, issued on 3 May 2021, starting from May 10, 2021, students are permitted to enter the buildings of the MFF UK if

1. they take part in laboratory or experimental classes, in all years of study, assuming a distance at least 1.5 meters from other students is maintained at all times;
2. or they participate in one-to-one consultations (one student and one teacher/other person);
3. or they take an exam, assuming a distance at least 1.5 meters from other students is maintained at all times. Note that in cases a) and c), the maximum allowed number of students in one room at the same time depends on the size of the room.

Therefore, from 10 May, 2021, the buildings of the MFF UK will be in the "Unlocked" mode. The entry of all persons into the building remains conditional on the following:

• they have a certificate of a negative Covid-19 test (antigen or PCR) not older than 7 days;
• or they have a Covid-19 vaccination certificate issued by the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic with at least 14 days elapsed since the last dose;
• or they have a document showing they have had Covid-19 disease in the past 90 days; if the person no longer has the relevant positive test, an affidavit can be used.

In the case of employees, these documents or their copies are collected by the heads of their department or by other persons authorized by them; in the case of students, the relevant teachers according to the items a), b) and c) above are responsible for checking the documents.

The details of laboratory or experimental courses will be agreed among the students and the responsible teacher; in-person participation should be voluntary and distance option should be available.

Please note that the Rector's Directive favoring Home Office still applies. Thus, entry to the MFF UK buildings remains limited to activities listed under points a.-c. above or under „2. Entrance to the MFF UK buildings" from the statement of the Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK dated March 16, 2021. We also ask all people staying in the buildings to follow the "hands-respirators-distancing-reason” rule.

2. Testing

Testing of students and employees is still possible at the CU Test Center at Albertov and the CU Mobile Test Teams. The CU Test Center at Albertov is open Mon-Fri 7am - 5pm and Sat-Sun 9am - 4pm. Booking for Albertov and mobile test units can be made at the usual university page. According to the recommendations of the Charles University, the Test Center of the General University Hospital in Prague can also be used; they have a free capacity of 300 tests per day and offer this capacity to the university. Booking is not mandatory but is available at https://www.vfn.cz/aktuality/odberove-centrum-na-testovani-covid-19/. A certificate of a negative Covid-19 test from any public or company test site can also be used, as described above.

The Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK

May 3, 2021

The situation from May 3, 2021

1. Testing and entering buildings

In the week from May 3 to May 7, there are no changes regarding teaching at the MFF UK, in particular the buildings remain closed. The rules specified by the Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK on April 23, 2021 apply to student testing organized by the Charles University, and the rules specified by the Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK on March 16, 2021, remains valid for employees and other people.

Entrance to the building is still possible only with a negative test, AG or PCR, not older than 7 days. Please note that in order to enter the building, it is possible to submit a negative test either from tests organized by the UK or from public testing. (note that everybody with health insurance is entitled to a free AG test once every three days.

2. Vaccination of academic employees

The vaccination registration starting from May 3,2021, is currently restricted to academic employees (which typically excludes postdocs and other visiting researchers) with no age restriction. Registration is possible from May 3, 2021 till June 15, 2021 at https://crs.uzis.cz/. Detailed instructions for registration can be found here. The unique code assigned to Charles University serves as a code for registration in this system. This code will allow registration for all academic employees of Charles University, regardless of the faculty at which they work. All academic staff of the MFF UK will receive the code in a separate e-mail. Their list according to the data from the employee department is given in the table which was sent to all employees.

Please note that the same code is by definition used to register all academic staff of the Charles University, so it should be treated as confidential, to prevent unauthorized distribution beyond the group of eligible academic employees.

After an employee registers with the CU code for vaccination in the Central Reservation System, MFF UK will issue a certificate of employment. This certificate has to be presented at the vaccination center together with a passport or other ID. Without this certificate vaccination is not possible.

We are asked to give priority those academic employees who are otherwise not yet eligible for vaccination, i.e., people under 55 years of age. It is recommended that people above 55 use vaccination registration according to age groups. Please also note that those who have already registered for vaccination in age groups cannot benefit from registration for academic employees.

The faculty also asks the management of Charles University to request the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports to open a registration for the vaccination of all university employees; we do not consider the restriction to academic employees to be appropriate.

While the vaccination is voluntary, we strongly suggest everybody to get one as this will provide a safer environment for everybody at MFF UK.

We wish everyone a good start to the vaccination period.

The Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK

April 23, 2021

The situation from April 26, 2021

1. According to the Appendix No. 1 to Government Resolution No. 393, issued on April 19, 2021, at MFF CUNI the relaxation of coronavirus restrictions starting from April 26 covers only the practical teaching and internships of students of the teacher training programs in the last years; thus, only a few courses with a minimum number of enrolled students are affected by this change. Therefore, in agreement with the teachers and students of these courses, our faculty does not start any in-person teaching during the week April 26 - May 2.
   
   
2. The buildings of the MFF UK remain closed in the last week of April. For employees, the entrance conditions specified by Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK on March 16, 2021, remain in force.
   
   
3. Starting on April 26, students can enter the MFF UK buildings for consultations (one student and one teacher) or for in-person examinations; for the examinations, at most ten people are allowed in the room. In both of these cases, the building can only be entered with a negative covid-19 test (AG or PCR) at most seven days old. The student presents this test certificate to the consulting teacher or the examiner for preview.
   
   
4. Mobile testing laboratories will be set up at the usual locations at the usual times. Both employees and students can be tested at CU Test Center at Albertov, Studničkova street; from April 24 to May 2, this testing laboratory is open daily: on weekends from 9:00 to 16:00, on weekdays from 7:00 to 17:00. Testing is possible only with prior reservation; the reservation can be made through the reservation system available at https://testovani.cuni.cz/.
   
   
5. Another option for students is to use CU Mobile Test Teams; they will operate on Thursday, April 29, at the Hvězda dormitory, and on Friday, April 30, at the Otava dormitory. The reservation system for the Mobile Test Teams can be found at the same link as for reservations at Albertov under the tab “Mobile centres”. More information can be found at this link.
   
   

Thank you for your patience. Wishing you all the best,

Crisis Management Team of the MFF

March 16, 2021

The situation from March 17, 2021

1. General information

As of March 17, the Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK restricts entry into the faculty buildings as specified below. In contrast to the previous period where people with entrance permission were specified, now permitted activities are specified; for these activities, not only employees but also students and other people are allowed to enter (assuming they meet at the same time the requirement of "test or vaccination or recovered from Covid", see below for the details). The department heads are responsible both for checking the conditions for entry and for checking and archiving of the relevant certificates.

Please ensure that the duration of your stay in the building reflects the length and importance of the specific activity and that the number of personal contacts during the stay in the building is minimized. We believe that these measures will be understood not only as an effort to minimize the number of people meeting in the MFF UK buildings and commuting between their homes and workplaces (which is one of the significant risk factors) but also as a reasonable arrangement that does not significantly harm important faculty activities.

2. Entrance to the MFF UK buildings

As of March 17, 2021, until further notice, only people whose activities belong to at least one of the following categories are allowed to enter the buildings of the MFF UK:

• necessary activities related to the operation of the buildings – the Head of the Department of Building Maintenance, or the building administrator authorized by him, is responsible for arranging the shift operation;
• necessary construction and other maintenance work that cannot be postponed – the Head of the Department of Building Maintenance is responsible for the arrangements;
• necessary administrative activities of the Dean's Office that cannot be performed from home – the heads of the departments of the Dean’s Office and Faculty Bursar are responsible for the arrangements including the shift operation;
• necessary administrative activities of departments that cannot be performed from home – the heads of the departments are responsible to arrange limited operation so that the personal contacts are minimized;
• teaching that cannot be done from home, either due to the need to use special equipment or due to the risk of significant degradation of the teaching quality – the heads of the departments are responsible for assessing individual cases and organizing teaching to minimize personal contacts in the buildings;
• experiments necessary to complete theses of students who plan to graduate by the end of this academic year and cannot complete the necessary experiments in any other way – the heads of the departments / laboratories ensure that students will minimize their time and personal contacts in the labs and that they will observe all the other measures;
• ensuring the necessary operation of laboratories and equipment in cases when personal intervention of the operator is necessary, and supervision of experiments that cannot be interrupted and require personal attention – the heads of the departments are responsible for organizing the shift operation;

and at the same time

• have a certificate of a negative Covid-19 test (antigen or PCR) not older than 7 days;
• or have a Covid-19 vaccination certificate issued by the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic with least 14 days elapsed since the last dose;
• or show that they have had Covid-19 disease in the past 90 days; if the person no longer has the relevant positive test, an affidavit can be used.

Paper or electronic copies of the documents confirming one of the previous three cases will be collected and archived at the departments.

3. Testing

Recap of some testing options (for more details see also the text on this page from March 10, 2021):

• The web for reservations for testing of UK employees in Studničkova Street (Albertov) is https://testovani.cuni.cz/. Detailed information was sent out on March 14.
• In Troja, Malá Strana and Karlín, testing by a mobile unit of the Charles University will be available. The employees of the relevant buildings will be informed about the specific dates and times.
• It is still possible to get a test at any of the public test sites such as https://book.anygence.com/, https://testovani.uzis.cz/Antigen, or https://www.covidpass.cz/cs-CZ/chci-test/; we have good reviews esp. regarding the first option.

Thank you for your patience. Wishing you all the best,

Crisis Management Team of the MFF

March 10, 2021

Measures of the Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK

The Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK decided on the following rules, based on Rector's Directives No. 8/2021 and 9/2021.

General situation

The basic goal of the measures below is to require employees to either work fully from home or to have their occasional presence in the workplace supported by a current negative test, vaccination or other proof of immunity. Exemptions are specified in the text below depending on the time period.

Even in the case of a justified presence in the workplace, we ask all employees to limit meetings with other people as much as possible and to observe strict hygiene rules, including the prohibition of eating near other people. We ask the department heads to try to organize the work so that the number of people present at the same time is minimized.

Period from March 10 to March 16, 2021

Effective from March 10, 2021, the Rector's Directive No. 8/2021 orders work from home for all university employees. Access to university buildings can be granted only in exceptional cases to perform important tasks that cannot be postponed or activities that cannot be performed from home. In such cases, the Dean is entitled to allow an exemption for specific employees.

To implement this measure, the Crisis Management Team establishes the following rules:

• As of March 10, 20:00, until further notice, all buildings of the MFF UK will be locked; entry will be allowed using a valid card/token only. All teaching, including related activities (exams, consultations) will be exclusively in the distance form.
• Department heads will apply for the exemption to enter buildings for relevant people; they will consult the list with the school’s Vice-Dean, who will pass the request to the Dean. Department heads are responsible for compliance with the access restrictions.
• The Faculty Bursar is responsible for organizing the operation of the Dean's Office; in agreement with the heads of departments and the Vice-Deans responsible for the departments, an appropriate shift operation will be organized to ensure the necessary activities of the Faculty. The operation of the Building Management is organized by its Head.
• For a transitional period of March 10 to 12 and after approval of the department head, even employees who do not have the exemption may visit the building in order to pick up things necessary for work from home.

Period from March 17 until further notice

In accordance with the Rector’s Directive No. 9/2021, entry to the buildings of the MFF UK will be permitted only to people who

• provide a proof of a negative test (antigen or PCR) not older than 7 days;
• or have a vaccination certificate, with at least 14 days elapsed since the last dose;
• or have had Covid-19 disease in the past 90 days;

and at the same time they have no symptoms of the disease. Paper or electronic copies of the test results, vaccination and other certificates will be collected by the departments.

At the same time, we ask again all employees to significantly reduce their presence in the buildings after March 17 and continue to work from home, even if one of the three options mentioned above applies to them.

Testing

We recommend that all employees make maximum use of public testing. The Sars-COV-2 antigen test can be taken once every 3 days and is fully covered by public health insurance. Due to the expected demand for testing, we recommend booking the tests in advance.

Specific testing options:

• Booking is available, e.g., at https://testovani.uzis.cz/Antigen, https://book.anygence.com/ or https://www.covidpass.cz/cs-CZ/chci-test/; by booking for a specific time, you will reduce or completely eliminate potentially unsafe waiting in queues.
• Already on Wednesday March 10 and on Friday March 12, the antigen testing at Albertov (Studničkova Street) will be open for employees of Charles University. Opening hours are 8:00 to 16:00. This week, testing is done without prior reservation. A valid employment contract or an employee card is required.
• Starting Monday March 15, the above-mentioned Albertov testing site will be open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8:00 to 16:00, with the option of booking. We will provide a link to this booking web as soon as it is available.
• Charles University will provide mobile testing laboratories, which will typically perform tests once a week in individual buildings of the university. We will inform about the schedule of mobile laboratories as soon as it is available.

Dear friends, we hope that you will take these measures with understanding. We have seen an increase in covid cases during the last week at the MFF UK, despite the fact that most of us behave reasonably and responsibly. Please let us be reasonable and responsible for a few more weeks and let us believe that this temporary restriction will help us to return to normal faculty life in the foreseeable future.

Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK

February 28, 2021

The situation from March 1, 2021

Reflecting the current situation and the fact that by Government Resolution No. 196 another state of emergency was declared in the Czech Republic, valid from February 27, 2021, for 30 days, i.e. until Sunday March 28, 2021, the Faculty Management and the Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK issue the following statement.

1. Presence in school: We strongly recommend limiting the stay in the buildings of the MFF UK as much as possible and working from home, in agreement with appropriate head of department. If the presence in school is necessary, we recommend introducing a suitable "shift work". This should ensure that there are as few people as possible in one room at a time. When staying in a building, all persons are obliged to use a protection, ideally a class FFP2 respirator, even in an office, whenever more than one person is present.
2. Confirmation for travel to the buildings of the Faculty: Government Resolution No. 216 valid from March 1, 2021 till March 21, 2021, requires a written confirmation from the employer for the purposes of the journey of employees to work, if these employees have a residence outside the of the City of Prague. The following applies to these persons:
   • Employees who have a valid employee ID card can use this ID card.
   • Other employees living outside Prague will fill in the confirmation (download docx or pdf), have it confirmed by a signature and a stamp either at the workplace or, upon agreement, in the faculty administration building (“dekanat”). In case the confirmation has been signed digitally, it would have to be available in the original electronic form upon request.
   • Temporary measure: if it is not possible to ensure that the employees have the written confirmation already on Monday, March 1, 2021, or in the days immediately following, the University administration proposes to temporarily solve this problem by a self-issued affidavit of the employee (docx or pdf, possibly also handwritten).
3. Examination, consultations: Although Government Resolution No. 200 still allows in-class examination at universities with up to 10 people present, as well as individual consultations in the presence of one student and one teacher, the Faculty Management strongly recommends using distance forms of these activities whenever possible. No other meetings with students are allowed.
4. Teaching: All teaching in the summer semester, starting on March 1, 2021, will be in the distance form until further notice. Unfortunately, no exceptions for any type of practical teaching can be expected during the first three weeks (at least) of the semester.
5. Libraries: Government Resolution No. 197 allows only preordered loans and their return, either in person or via collection boxes. When visiting libraries, it is recommended to use a class FFP2 respirator.
6. Testing: We recommend all employees and students of MFF UK to exercise the right to undergo a free antigen test every three days. Take the tests at least once every two weeks, preferably once a week. The list of testing facilities can be found at https://testovani.uzis.cz/Antigen. Please reserve these tests well in advance.
7. Vaccinations: Unfortunately, university employees are not yet allowed to register for vaccinations (unlike primary and secondary school teachers or staff). This information was confirmed on February 27, 2021, both by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and by the Charles University Management. Should anything change in this respect, we will inform you.

The Central Crisis Staff of the Charles University will meet on March 1, 2021. If needed, this statement will be supplemented during the evening of March 1.

Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK

February 16, 2021

Teaching in the Summer Semester 2020/21

Teaching in the summer semester will certainly start in the distance form (on March 1, 2021). However, it is possible, depending on the circumstances, that we will switch to the in-person or hybrid form of teaching during the semester, at least to some extent. The schedule for the summer semester is thus prepared in such a way that would make this change of form of teaching possible. If this situation arises during the semester, you will be notified well in advance about all the changes.

Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK

January 11, 2021

Examination Period of the Winter Semester

The default mode for exams in the examination period after the first semester is the in-person form, as long as circumstances allow it. Exams are allowed for up to 10 people in the room. However, we are aware that there are many students in the programmes running in English, who aren't and can't be in Prague. Thus, in these cases, we are ready to arrange remote exams. If this is your case and you haven't contacted your professors yet, please do so as soon as possible so that they have enough time to plan the exams. Please be aware that due to the unusual situation, the examination period after the first semester is extended by two weeks until Feb 26, 2021; this should provide enough time for exams and preparation for them. The tuition in the second semester will thus start at the beginning of March and will be shifted by two weeks.

We wish you all good luck during the Examination Period.

Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK

Archive: March – December 2020