Hygiene high on RGUHS agenda as classes reopen on December 1

Assisting the state government in its battle against Covid-19 for over eight months, medical and dental colleges across the state are set to open on December 1 for regular classes and consultation for students.

Considering the clinical environment within which the colleges work on a daily basis, the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) has issued stringent guidelines to students and staff.

As per the Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) issued by the RGUHS, all students and faculty members must undergo RTPCR tests latest by 72 hours before reporting to attend college.

No conferences

The university has advised all colleges to avoid conferences, seminars, workshops and interviews till the pandemic ceases. Keeping in mind the lurking threat, elder employees, pregnant employees shall not be posted to frontline work at hospitals, clinics.

The university has advised colleges to post only final-year students and post-graduate interns to work at the Covid-designated centres or hospitals.

“Junior students shall be given low priority and deliberately restricted from working in high-risk areas,” the SoP says. The RGUHS, keeping in mind students’ frequent visits to outside the hospitals for assignments, has directed to avoid giving too many assignments to them.

Disinfection

As the students are exposed to clinical facilities in the colleges particularly during practical sessions, all students have been advised to disinfect themselves before leaving the premises and before entering the hostels. All students both in college and hostel are advised to wear surgical masks.

“Students shall use disinfectant solution to wash hands, feet before leaving the campus. Hostels must provide separate restrooms for freshening up as soon as students return from hospitals. They must dip their clothes in disinfectant solution on return,” the advisory said.

Specific instructions have been given to hold practical classes at the moment. All students must obtain consent letters from their parents.

All medical colleges hostels must facilitate only two students per room besides avoiding bunker cots and dormitory arrangement. Managements have been advised to avoid air-conditioning facilities in common areas and dining areas besides individual rooms.

Acknowledging the difficulties in accommodating all, colleges have been asked to adopt a blended approach of both online and offline classes.

Dr Sachidanand, vice-chancellor, RGUHS, said, “We have directed colleges to carry out disinfection of classrooms on a daily basis at the end of the day.”