Archive: July 2021 – March 2022

March 11, 2022

The situation as of March 14, 2022

Starting on March 14, 2022, respirators are no longer mandatory inside the MFF UK buildings. However, we recommend wearing them in certain situations. More detailed information is available on the page Current rules for staying in the MFF UK buildings.

The teaching of all subjects, including physical education, continues in the full-time form as described in the letter of Vice-Dean Kulich from February 9.

We are not imposing any additional restrictions concerning the Covid-19 epidemic currently. At the same time, we rely on mutual consideration, for example when consuming food and beverages.

Thank you all for your patience. We wish you the smoothest possible course of the next days and weeks.

Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK

February 23, 2022

Physical education classes

Taking into account the current hygienic situation, the physical education classes will be resumed in the full-time form on February 28, 2022.

Other measures concerning activities in the MFF UK buildings remain unchanged.

Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK

February 10, 2022

Information on the commencement of teaching in the summer semester 2021/2022

The general conditions for entering and staying in the MFF UK buildings remain the same as before. The government-mandated obligation to test employees by the employer ends on February 18.

The teaching in the summer semester (except for physical education – see below) begins on February 14, primarily in the in-person form. However, as various non-standard situations may occur, the Vice-Dean for Student Affairs Michal Kulich specifies in his letter our provisions in more detail.

In-person teaching of physical education remains suspended for the first two weeks of the semester. If the hygienic situation develops as expected, the teaching of physical education will be resumed in the full-time form on February 28; we will confirm or adjust this plan on this page no later than on February 23. Details about the situation in the first two weeks of the semester can be found on the website of the Department of Physical Education.

We believe that the situation will continue to improve and that shortly the in-person teaching will go on without any significant restrictions.

Thank you all for your patience and we wish you a successful start to the summer semester.

Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK

January 31, 2022

Exemption from employee testing from January 31, 2022

All measures specified in the text "On employee coronavirus testing effective from January 17, 2022" remain in force. There is only one adjustment, namely in point 4. Comments, item b "Exemptions to testing" of that text: In addition, the exemption applies also to a person who has undergone a laboratory-confirmed covid-19 disease, his/her ordered isolation has terminated and no more than 30 days have elapsed since the positive RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 on the basis of which the isolation was ordered.

Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK

January 14, 2022

On employee coronavirus testing effective from January 17, 2022

1. General information

1. The government-mandated obligation to test employees up to twice a week applies to all persons having an employment contract, or contract for work or services with the MFF UK (hereinafter referred to as employees) in case of their presence at the faculty premises. The testing does not apply to students without an employment at MFF UK.
2. The tests (antigenic) will be regularly distributed to the MFF UK buildings starting on January 17, 2022, until further notice. The tests for the dean's office staff will be available at the mail room of the building Ke Karlovu 3. For the REPRO, PROFDUM, KNIH, SB, KJP and KTV departments, the tests will be delivered to them by internal mail directly to the given locations; for the departments at schools of mathematics, physics and computer science, the tests will be delivered by internal mail to their secretariats. For departments located in more than one location, the distribution of tests will be adapted accordingly. In all these cases, the employees will pick up the tests at the secretariats of their department, or (in the case of "divided" departments) at a person authorized for this purpose by the head of the department.
3. At the locations Ke Karlovu 3, Malostranské náměstí 25, Sokolovská 83 and V Holešovičkách 2, on Friday, 14 January 2022, unattended test sites will be set up equipped with a table, disinfectants, a box (bag) for contaminated waste and instructions for its disposal. The accessto the test sites from the main entrances will be marked. The test sites are primarily set up as a place for the disposal of positive tests and for self-testing of employees.

2. Testing process (instructions for employees)

1. At the designated place (see point 1b above) the employee will pick up the test and instructions; please mind that there are two types of tests – the instructions for the single-packed test are also available here and the instructions for tests packed by 25 pieces are available here (both in Czech only, unfortunately). [Added on January 17: the instructions for the VivaDiag test are available here.] For employees with a shared office or in the case of any hygienic risk to the environment, we recommend performing tests at the test site (see point 1c above); employees with a private office can perform the test there.
2. After taking the test, employees with access to the CAS will record the date of the test and its result (positive or negative) at https://testovani.cuni.cz in the top bar under the “Self-tests” tab. In the case of a negative result, the system generates a confirmation (in pdf) entitling the employee to a personal presence at the workplace for three days. (This functionality of the website will be launched on January 17, 2022.) Employees without access to the CAS will report the test result, positive or negative, to an authorized person at the workplace who will proceed according to point 3 below.
3. The employee repeats the tests as needed but no more than twice a week so that his/her presence in the building always falls within one of the three-day periods after the negative self-test.
4. In the case of a positive test result, the employee reports this fact also to the head of the department, leaves the building and is ordered to quarantine for five days. In this case, we recommend to arrange also a PCR test (vaccinated persons should be entitled to five free PCR tests per month from 17 January): if the PCR test is negative and the employee does not experience any symptoms, he/she will notify the department head and the quarantine will be terminated; if the PCR test is positive, please report this new fact to Faculty Bursar Blanka Svobodová using the usual form available also from the covid webpage.
5. Disposal of a negative self-test need not be done in the special test site (although it is recommended). Disposal of a positive self-test must be performed at the test site, following the instructions there.
6. Any positive antigenic test will be reported to the hygienic station centrally by Charles University.

3. Additional information for staff without access to the CAS

Testing of employees who do not have access to the CAS must be recorded manually (preferably in an Excel spreadsheet) by the appropriate department head or a person authorized by him. For each test, it is necessary to record

• Name and surname
• Health insurance company
• Birthdate
• Insurance number
• Date and time of the test
• Test result
• Contact phone

If an employee without access to the CAS is positive, his/her department head will report this to petr.bulicek@ruk.cuni.cz.

4. Comments

1. The process described above is a part of the government-mandated coronavirus testing of employees by the employer. The distributed tests should not be used for any other purpose than testing of MFF UK staff in MFF UK buildings.
2. Exemptions to testing. If you are sure not to meet another person during your stay at the MFF UK premises, or you have undergone RT in the last 72 hours PCR test with a negative result, or if you have passed the "employee" test with a negative result during the previous three days with another employer, you are exempt from the test obligation. (See also Exemption from employee testing from January 31, 2022.)
3. If the presence of an employee is important on the day "D", on which the previous test would no longer apply, we recommend performing a new self-test on the day "D-1".
4. For the financial feasibility of the testing, it is crucial that all performed tests, both negative and positive, will be reported to the CAS or through the lists described in point 3 above. Only tests reported in this way can be reimbursed from health insurance companies.
5. The supply of tests will be replenished regularly. Although the MFF UK has purchased a certain reserve of tests from its resources, please do not pile up the tests as individual employees.
6. As the reliability of Ag tests used this way is very limited, the conditions for entry into the MFF UK buildings and staying in them do not change. For example, the obligation to wear respirators continues to apply, except for the explicitly listed cases. We draw attention to the Rector's Measure No. 2/2022, (in Czech only) especially Articles 2, 3, 5, and we recommend that you follow their provisions.

We believe that you will accept this implementation of government regulations with understanding and patience.

Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK

January 5, 2022

Exam period winter semester 2021/22

Please pay attention to the letter from the Vice-Dean for Student Affairs M. Kulich, and the Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK concerning the examination period.

Current rules for entering the MFF UK buildings and staying in the MFF UK buildings can be found here.

Regarding possible central testing of employees, which should take place from January 17, 2022, we are waiting for exact regulations and will let you know as soon as they will be available.

We wish you a good start to the new year and a smooth exam period.

Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK

December 3, 2021

Teaching in the Advent period

Considering the non-improving epidemic situation, starting on December 9, 2021, we are introducing the following combination of in-person and distance teaching at our faculty:

• The in-person classes of physical education remain suspended.
• All other teaching remains in the in-person form with the provision that for some classes (see below) the classes have to allow distance participation of students in some form. This means that the courses still take place in the time and place specified in the standard schedule and at the same time, the selected courses are streamed online (by Zoom or MS Teams), or they are recorded and published, or both.
• The lists of selected courses (especially lectures) for which we require the support for distance learning, and for which we recommend it, is provided, with other details, at this link (see the right column of the covid page).
• These measures aim to reduce the number of people where it poses an epidemic risk and at the same time, to make it possible to students to follow the teaching in the in-person way or remotely, according to their choice.

To implement these measures, it is necessary that in the period December 3-8, 2021:

• the teachers of the relevant courses contact (if they are not yet familiar with streaming or recording the courses from the lecture rooms) the administrator of the AV technique;
• the teachers of the relevant courses (possibly with support from the local schedule committee) add to the SIS information about distant learning support for each of their classes, including the date from which the support is provided. The procedure to add this information is SIS -> Schedule NG -> select the relevant class by clicking on it -> Edit details -> fill in Public notice to the schedule -> Save. The support for distance learning can start for some classes already before December 9, 2021, if it does not cause any problems.

We also ask first-year teachers to inform students about the software platform they are going to use and how the students can connect to the classes online (not everyone coming from a secondary school is familiar with Zoom, the most commonly used platform at the MFF UK). The appropriate place where to share the online meeting details with students is, e.g., a note in the SIS in the cell "Note for the attending students", or on the Notice-board (again, in the SIS) for the relevant course (add New notice; don't forget to set the access rights properly).

Information about the support for distance learning will be sent to all employees and all students also by email. We ask students to actively look for information about distance learning in the SIS themselves or to ask about it their teachers or classmates.

We believe that we will all be able to handle the situation at the end of the semester, that we will not spend the Christmas holidays in isolation, and that we meet again in good health after the New Year.

Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK

November 19, 2021

The situation as of November 19, 2021

Given the current unfavorable epidemic situation, the Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK has decided on the following measures:

1 Teaching

Effective from Tuesday, November 23, 2021, in-person classes of physical training are suspended. On Monday, members of the Department of Physical Education will notify students about possible substitute forms of training or about altered conditions for obtaining course credits.

Teaching in all other courses at our faculty remains in the in-person form under tightened hygienic conditions (see below).

2 Conditions for presence in the buildings of the MFF UK

Wearing a respirator of class FFP2 is mandatory for everyone in all internal areas of the buildings, with the following exceptions:

• faculty and other employees in their office provided distancing of at least 1,5 meters is maintained;
• lecturers during teaching provided sufficient distancing from students is maintained (typically in the large lecture halls) in cases when wearing a respirator would significantly degrade the teaching quality;
• during consumption of foods and drinks, for a necessary period.

The decision about the introduction and organization of possible shift operations belongs to the heads of the departments.

Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK

November 15, 2021

Situation as of November 15, 2021

1. All measures specified in the statements of the Crisis Management Team of October 25 and November 4 shall remain in force with the following modification of the second item of the paragraph “1. Respiratory protection” from October 25 (concerning exemptions of wearing respirators), which, starting of November 15, reads as follows:

• students during classes, if there are at most 49 students in the room and they are seated with a spacing of at least 1.5 meters.

However, given the deteriorating hygienic situation, the Crisis Management Team strongly recommends that all persons consider wearing a respirator inside buildings, even in situations where government regulations do not require it.

2. Please pay attention to the Preliminary Plan for the Transition to Hybrid Teaching (in Czech), which will be implemented when the hygienic situation at the MFF UK requires it.

The Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK

November 4, 2021

The situation after November 3, 2021

1. Dean's Sports Day

Given the current epidemic situation, the Dean's Sports Day, scheduled for Friday November 12, is canceled. On that day, it is possible to hold classes according to the standard schedule and currently valid covid measures, provided that enrolled students have been notified in advance and agreed to hold classes.

2. Open Day

Given the current epidemic situation, the Open Day 2021, scheduled for Tuesday November 23, will be held remotely in the form of an online discussion with prospective students about the study at our faculty, in a similar way as a year ago, in accordance with Article 6 of the Dean's Measure No. 4/2021. For this purpose, on November 23, from 12 noon to 9pm, all classes in the lecture room N1 (lecture room of J. Matoušek, IMPAKT building) are canceled. On that day, it is possible to hold the classes that were to be canceled due to the Open Day in all other lecture rooms of the MFF UK according to the standard schedule and currently valid covid measures, provided that the enrolled students have been notified in advance and agreed to hold the classes. In accordance with Article 7 of the above-mentioned measure, all other on-site activities related to Open Day are also canceled, regardless of the state of their preparation. The presentations of departments will be arranged by the PR Office using previously prepared videos.

3. Teaching

The Crisis Management Team and Faculty Management still considers a top priority to maintain in-person teaching, as long as the epidemic situation at MFF UK allows so or until the transition to distance or partially distance teaching is mandated by the government or Rector’s office. At the same time, we ask the academic community members to be prepared for a possible future transition to (partially)distance teaching. To this end, the Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK has decided on the following measures:

1. The members of the schedule committee will prepare a plan for the transition to partially distance teaching, especially for compulsory lectures for a large number of students or those where sufficient spacing cannot be ensured. In such a case it may be necessary to move some lectures to make it possible for students to travel between distance and in-person classes. We ask the academic community members to accommodate such requests by the committee whenever possible. The plan for these adjustments will be published in the near future in the right column of the covid page; e-mail notification will be given.
2. In case of illness of a teacher or a larger number of students of a given course, the situation can be handled in one of the standard ways: teacher’s substitution, transition to temporary distance teaching according to the schedule (if it does not conflict with in-person teaching of other courses), transmission of distance teaching to the lecture hall, by providing off-line recordings or recordings from the last year, etc. Please, inform the head of the department and the program coordinator about such temporary changes and, if necessary consult them with the schedule committee.
3. A possible decision on the transition to partially or fully distance teaching at the MFF UK will be based primarily on a good knowledge of the current situation at the MFF UK. Any employee with a positive Covid test result is obliged to immediately inform his/her department head, who will immediately notify the Faculty Bursar via this form. Students report positive tests by email to studijni@mff.cuni.cz.
4. In order to maintain the in-person teaching as long as possible, we strongly urge all students and teachers to strictly adhere to the established hygienic rules, especially wearing respirators in all common areas and during classed whenever it is not possible to permanently guarantee sufficient spacing and regular ventilation.

4. Organization of non-teaching events

Given the high priority of maintaining the in-person teaching, until the end of classes in the winter semester, the Crisis Management Team does not recommend planning new events on the faculty premises that are not directly related to teaching. In particular, we do not recommend serving food and drinks at such events. If the planned event can no longer be canceled or its cancellation would cause a financial loss, we recommend to observe all hygienic measures very strictly, including maintaining greater spacing when eating and drinking. The restaurant facilities of the MFF UK, providing staff and students with lunches (Profesní dům, buffet Troja) are open, but we appeal to the observance of strict hygienic rules and, if possible, to maintain spacing.

Based on the recommendations of the PR Office and the Vice-Dean for Public Relations, the Crisis Management Team does not recommend organizing any camps or other in-person events related to correspondence seminars or competitions. If the planned event can no longer be canceled, or its cancellation would cause a financial loss, at the beginning of the event all participants, including the organizers and regardless of vaccination, must have (and provide a certificate of) a valid negative PCR test not older than 72 hours. Within 5 days after the end of the event, the organizers will send scans of certificates of negative PCR tests from all participants (i.e., incl. organizers) to the PR Office (e-mail: pr@mff.cuni.cz). Additional costs associated with PCR tests will not be reimbursed by the MFF UK. Until further notice, whenever possible, we also recommend moving the planned competitions for secondary and primary school students to the online environment in which they took place last year. Any questions about camps or competitions can be directed to the head of the PR Office.

We wish all employees and students of the MFF UK the strongest possible health, mutual respect and an adequate dose of patience.

The Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK

October 25, 2021

The situation from October 25, 2021

1. Respiratory protection

Wearing a respirator of class FFP2 or a similar protective device (e.g., KN95) is mandatory in all internal areas (i.e., not only "common areas") of the buildings.
However, the obligation to wear respirators shall not apply until further notice to:

• students and academic staff during an educational activity, the nature of which does not allow the wearing of a protective device (especially physical training),
• students in classes who are seated with a spacing of at least 1.5 meters,
• students and examiners during the exams, if all persons maintain a distance of at least 1.5 meters,
• teachers during classes; here all persons involved in teaching and examining are considered as teachers,
• employees at their workplaces, if they are at least 1.5 meters apart.

2. Entrance to the buildings

• The general conditions for entering the buildings remain the same as before (i.e., students do not have to prove fulfillment of any covid conditions to participate in tuition and examinations, but they need a valid covid-19 certificate based on vaccination or passed disease or negative test to participate in graduation and matriculation ceremonies and if they are accommodated in dormitories; staff do not have to prove fulfillment of any covid conditions when they enter the building in order to perform their job duties).
• However, all persons who show signs of respiratory disease are still prohibited from entering the buildings of the MFF UK.
• The Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK recommends that at all events on the faculty premises that are not related to teaching, research or administrative activities performed within the scope of work of the given persons or obligations given by degree plans, the participants are required to meet the covid conditions (i.e., "vaccination or passed illness or negative test").

3. Fulfillment of covid conditions from November 1, 2021

Covid conditions "vaccination or passed illness or negative test" to be used wherever compliance with this condition is required, are met with effect from November 1 by persons who:

• have been vaccinated against covid-19 and provide a national vaccination certificate or a vaccination certificate issued in accordance with the European Union Regulation on the EU digital certificate COVID1, provided that at least 14 days have elapsed since the completion of vaccination schedule, or
• have a certificate of a negative RT-PCR Covid-19 test taken during the last 72 hours, or
• have a certificate of a negative antigen Covid-19 test taken during the last 24 hours, or
• have undergone laboratory-confirmed covid-19 disease, the isolation period has expired according to the currently valid emergency measure of the Ministry of Health and since the first positive test (RT-PCR or antigen) not more than 180 days have elapsed.

4. General remarks about teaching and more

At the moment, the management of MFF UK still strongly prefers teaching in its in-person form, for as long as possible – this can be interrupted not only by a situation where in-person teaching would be restricted by the government, but also by a situation where a possible increase in the number of cases at the MFF UK would force to terminate in-person teaching.

We would therefore like to ask all persons staying in the MFF UK buildings to strictly observe not only all applicable hygiene measures, but also to act according to the principle of mutual thoughtfulness. This includes the appropriate form of isolation if they feel any respiratory problems or have a fever, and also wearing respirator even in a situation where, strictly speaking, it is not "mandatory", but it is still appropriate if they are asked to do so by someone around them.

We also ask students and staff to continue to notify the faculty of illness, a positive test, or the start or termination of an ordered quarantine according to the instructions under the heading "Faculty Contacts" in the right column of the covid page.

We believe that all these measures will help us to keep teaching in its full-time form for as long as possible.

The Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK

September 27, 2021

Start of winter semester teaching 2021/22

1. Entrance to buildings

Currently, the entrance to the buildings of the MFF UK is not limited by any general provision with the few exceptions mentioned below; in particular, people entering the buildings are not obliged to demonstrate compliance with the "vaccination or passed illness or negative test" requirement. The only situation where the "vaccination or passed illness or negative test" requirement still applies are the academic ceremonies with twenty or more participants and accommodation in dormitories. Entrance to the buildings is prohibited to people with symptoms of respiratory disease.

2. Respiratory protection

All persons in the common areas of buildings of the MFF UK are obliged to use respirators of class FFP2 or similar protective equipment (e.g. KN95). Exceptions to this obligation are granted to students and academic staff in activities whose character does not objectively allow the use of protective equipment (e.g. sports). Another exception applies to teaching and examinations when students are seated at a minimum distance 1,5 meters. Teachers are also exempt when providing education with proper distancing.

3. Teaching

Teaching in the winter semester starts on September 29, 2021 in the in-person form subject to the above-described conditions.

We wish all employees and students a good and successful start of the semester, with the hope that the in-person form of teaching will last long this time.

The Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK

September 13, 2021

The situation in the middle of September 2021

1. General information

Based on the government decisions, students entering the buildings of the MFF UK do not have to prove fulfillment of covid measures (i.e. "vaccination or passed illness or negative test") in order to participate in education and examinations. These certificates need to be presented at academic ceremonies with the participation of more than 20 people and for accommodation in dormitories.

2. Respiratory protection

All persons in the common areas of buildings of the MFF UK are obliged to use respirators of class FFP2 (at least), with the exemption of examiners and students during exams and teachers and students during activities related to teaching and exams as long as distancing of at least 1,5 meters is maintained and students are seated. Teachers are also exempt when providing education.

The Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK

July 2, 2021

The situation in the first days of July

1. General information

On July 1, 2021, the employers' obligation to test employees was called off. The mobile testing teams of Charles University have ended their activities, the testing place in Albertov was cancelled. On June 25, the state of emergency at Charles University was called off, and the Rector's Directive 27/2021 called off the general obligation to perform work from home. From July 1, 2021, the entrance to the buildings of the MFF UK is not limited by any general provision, with the few restrictions specified below.

2. Respirators

All persons are obliged to use respirators of class FFP2 or similar protective equipment (e.g. KN95). Exceptions to this obligation are granted to students and academic staff in activities whose character does not objectively allow the use of protective equipment (e.g. sports). Another exception applies to teaching and examinations when students are seated at a minimum distance 1,5 meters.

3. Teaching, education, exams

The instructions at the governmental and university level regarding the operation of libraries, reading rooms and computer labs do not clearly state the rules. Based on available information, the Crisis Management Team establishes the following rules:

• For participation in educational activities (lectures, seminars, consultations - without any limit on the number of persons) and exams with up to ten persons, no other provisions than the above mentions respirators apply.
• Participants of an exam with more than ten people and of graduation ceremonies,
  • have a certificate of a negative Covid-19 test (antigen or PCR) not older than seven days;
  • or 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 (note that the first dose of a two-dose vaccine is no enough, from July 9);
  • or have a document showing they have had Covid-19 disease in the past 180 days; if the person no longer has the relevant positive test, an affidavit can be used.
• In libraries and reading rooms, the obligation to wear a respirator applies; moreover, before entering a reading room, it is necessary to prove infectivity by one of the three above described ways. For both libraries and reading rooms, the limit on a maximum of one person per ten m² applies.
• The operation of computer labs is possible; the decision about opening a lab belongs to its administrator, provided that there is sufficient demand from students for such an opening. The above-described rules for libraries apply to computer labs too.

4. Traveling abroad

The situation is not very convenient for travelling abroad. If you decide to travel abroad, please follow the current measures of the government of the Czech Republic and the governments of the destination countries regarding the conditions of departure and especially return. Also, pay attention to the classification of countries by the degree of risk of infection of Covid-19 on the website of the Ministry of Health: https://koronavirus.mzcr.cz/seznam-zemi-podle-miry-rizika-nakazy/. Depending on this classification, the government may issue a provision to submit a negative test after return from some countries. Because both the list of countries and the conditions for taking the test can change quickly, please consider taking the test whenever returning to the Czech Republic from abroad.

Thanks for your patience with all the limitations! Wishing you strong nerves and a refreshing summer!

The Crisis Management Team of the MFF UK

Archive: January – June 2021

Archive: March – December 2020