March 8, 2020
To Members of the University Community,
In this letter I will not be adding any new instructions and the main purpose is to clarify the considerations behind the decisions that have already been taken with regard to the Corona Virus and that will guide us in the coming days.
The situation in Israel and throughout the world is dynamic, changing nearly daily, and with it also the instructions of the Ministry of Health. At this stage the list of countries where a visit to them will require confinement is expanding, and on this past Thursday we were told that all participants in international conferences in any place in the world must go into confinement upon their return to Israel. There is no precedent in our generation for the spread of a virus like this and therefore there is great uncertainty regarding the scope of restrictions in the near future.
The University Administration is in constant contact with the Ministry of Health and we are also consulting with other universities. The Administration is meeting daily to discuss developments and prepare for any development to the extent possible. Our overall purpose is of course to ensure to the extent possible the health of all of us, and within this framework to try to allow for activities which do not threaten our health. The University family is composed of a variety of groups and we must ensure handling and proper regard to all of the groups.
On Thursday we announced, similar to many universities around the world, that we do not allow professional travel abroad (a subject we will refer to again in the course of this letter), and meanwhile it has become clear that a significant portion of the flights abroad have been cancelled by the various airlines. In this matter we wish to clarify that it is possible to fund from the budget of the Science Travel Fund the cost involved in cancellation of professional travel abroad that had been approved, if there is such. Also the payment, if required, for changing the dates of the flights due to the delay in leaving for a sabbatical will be funded from the budget for the flight for the sabbatical.
The second semester of the academic year is due to open next week. At this time the decision at a national level is to carry out the semester as planned. We are also preparing the technology to enable to the extent possible, if it becomes necessary, to carry out on-line teaching in its various forms. Again here we do not know for certain what will happen tomorrow but we are preparing for the various possibilities. The prohibition on professional travel abroad stems from a number of reasons and among these the desire to decrease to the extent possible the number of members of the staff that will be required to be in confinement and as a result will not be able to teach.
We plan to keep you informed on an ongoing basis. It is our intention to open a special website where we will concentrate all of the information on this matter. Subject to the great amount of uncertainty, we still do not have a response to all the questions that arise. In general, we are trying to keep options open. As of now, the ban on international conferences is valid for the month of March and conferences that are not international may be held as planned. Again we remind you of the importance of full compliance with the instructions of the Ministry of Health.
Wishing good health to all of the University community.
Best regards,
Asher Cohen