Information from Örebro University on the coronavirus

You must follow the information on Blackboard. It is updated continuously. If there is no new information, the information you have previously received still applies.

For students:
As of Friday 20 March, all examinations shall be completed as digital take-home examinations or assignments. Exemptions are made for practical, laboratory components, the examination of which are difficult to carry out digitally. The majority of our teaching activities will be online. Check Blackboard for specific information concerning your course.

För teachers:
The Centre for Academic Development has prepared support materials which you will find here.

Updated: 18 March 2020 14:20

Contact your school so you can solve the problem together. A broken computer should not prevent you from taking your exam or conduct your studies. We will then make sure you have access to a computer in one of the university’s computer rooms. But remember to contact the school well in advance.

It depends. Some teaching sessions may be recorded if any of the participants would have technical problems. Which session will be recorded is determined by the purpose of the session. Any backup copies created in connection with these sessions will in that case be deleted immediately after the session, unless technical problems have been reported in connection with the session.

Compulsory components, which would normally have been recorded anyway, are kept for longer, in accordance with the provisions in place.

Read more here

No. Your name will always appear, but you can opt to have your camera turned off and ask any questions in the chat instead. That way you can participate without sound or the camera enabled.

Read more here (In swedish)

The placement scheme differs in organisation and content depending on your study programme. We advise you to contact the persons in charge of your programme. The university is in constant dialogue with our placement partners, such as healthcare organisations and schools.

This is a question many people ask, and so far, there is no straightforward answer. If schools and preschools would close, it would of course affect many teachers and students with children. We are monitoring the developments closely to allow us to act should schools or preschools close.

At the present, the matter has not been discussed at the national level.

The personal injury insurance that students are covered by during school hours/placement hours does not apply if you study or participate in online teaching activities at home. In the event of an accident/personal injury at home, students are referred to the cover provided by their own home insurance. 

For students covered by any of the following insurance policies – Student IN/FAS/FAS plus – and who are opting to stay in Sweden and participate in distance teaching activities, the insurance cover applies without any changes. If the student wishes to interrupt their studies or participate in distance teaching activities from their home country, any costs for travel back to their home country will not be reimbursed via the insurance. Nor is the student covered by any of these insurance policies from the Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency (Kammarkollegiet) in their home country, even if they participate in distance teaching activities at a Swedish higher education institution. 

More information about insurance: www.kammarkollegiet.se/engelska/start

The university recommends that employees who have the possibility to work at home to do so. A decision is taken in cooperation with one's line manager. This recommendation applies even if one is free of symptoms. The recommendation is effective immediately (2020-03-13) and is in effect until further notice

The Örebro Student Union has also taken measures and is following the university's recommendations.

We have received its first confirmed case of infection. Going forward, we will not receive confirmation of infection, as health officials have ceased testing of persons who are not critically ill. Each one of us must, therefore, act responsibly and stay home if we have symptoms.

Access to the premises will be limited, but the university will not close any of its campuses. Students may continue to use our study places on our campuses, but the opening hours will be limited to 07:00-18:00. The School of Music, School of Hospitality, Culinary Arts and Meal Science, and Gymnastikhuset will to some extent be exempted from this.

The University Library will close as a study environment. It will, however, be possible to reserve books and to collect these at 11:00-13:00.

Closing the university would have wide-ranging consequences for our students. We have elected to wait and closely monitor subsequent developments

The Örebro Student Union has also taken measures and is following the university's recommendations.

We are following the recommendations issued by authorities such as the Public Health Agency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We are regularly making our own decisions, for example concerning business travel and student exchanges.

We are cancelling all international business travel and advise against business travel within Sweden.

We recommend students and staff to minimise their travel nationally and internationally.

All conferences at the university with international guests are cancelled.

Also a number of other large-scale meetings will be cancelled, postponed or held digitally. This applies, for instance, to the university’s Vårmingel, which will probably be replaced by another event this autumn.

International visits by any larger groups are cancelled.

All members of staff and students have been urged to wash their hands very carefully, not to cough and sneeze without covering their mouths or into their hands, and to stay at home if they are ill.

You can always find the most recent and updated information here.

Our recommendations are issued on the grounds of maintaining a safe work environment.

It is important for us to create a safe and secure work environment for our some 1,500 members of staff and 15,000 students.

This concerns a young person who visited the University's Open House on 4 March. The person has visited some of Campus Örebro’s facilities in connection with the information given to upper secondary school pupils.

The Open House event continued on the following day, but this particular case only pertains to 4 March. It is also important to point out that the virus is a droplet infection and therefore spreads through coughing and sneezing.

Persons who have been in close contact with the infected person have been contacted by Region Örebro County. As an extra precautionary measure, the Head of Infection Control is asking everyone who attended the university’s Open House to be watchful of any symptoms during the entire incubation period, which is until 18 March.  

All international conferences organised by the university in the near future are cancelled.

All larger meetings with more than 100 participants will be cancelled, postponed or held digitally. This applies for instance to the university’s Vårmingel, which will probably be replaced by another event this autumn.

International visits by any larger groups are cancelled.

Örebro Student Union is also in the process of reviewing their upcoming events.

The university has, for security reasons, opted to apply summer opening hours on campus. There are relatively few people on the premises and we would like to reduce the risk of, for instance, thefts or damage to property.

We urge anybody who is experiencing symptoms to stay at home.

Common symptoms are a cough, other respiratory symptoms and a fever.

For more information, visit the Public Health Agency of Sweden's website.

You can now call a national information number 113 13 – if you have questions about COVID-19.

This is the advice issued by the Public Health Agency:

A general precautionary measure against respiratory infections is to avoid touching your face and eyes, and to avoid close contact with persons who are ill.

Wash your hands frequently with soap and warm water – before meals, when handling food and after visiting the toilet. If there are no hand washing facilities, using hand sanitiser is an alternative.

By coughing and sneezing into your elbow or a tissue, you prevent the virus from spreading around you and from contaminating your hands.

Stay at home when you are ill to avoid infecting people on the bus, at work or in any other situation where you are close to others.

Contact medical services and follow their instructions.

If anyone at home is showing possible symptoms or is ill, you need to stay at home. Either you will then work from home, alternatively, if you have a job that cannot be done from home, you will be at home with pay.

New rules have been introduced concerning the doctor’s certificate for sick leave. A doctor’s certificate is now not required until day 14 and onwards.

The Centre for Academic Development has prepared a webpage with information on online teaching.

Information on online teaching

On Inforum (the intranet), there is a page with information on handling examinations.

Information on handling examinations (Inforum for employees)

For members of staff, there is a page on Inforum (the intranet) with information on equipment and software that you may need in order to work from home.

Information on working from home (Inforum for employees)

The university strongly recommends students who are abroad for an exchange, placement or similar, to return home. The university will do everything we can to aid the situation for returning students and to the best of our ability admit students to courses that will reasonably fit into their study programmes. 

The university recommends members of staff who are abroad to return to Sweden. The recommendation is based on the assessment that you risk being stranded and will have trouble making your way back. If you are seconded abroad for a longer period of time, you may of course consider and decide to stay in your host country.

For work environment reasons, we strongly recommend that you do not come to the university even if you do not have any symptoms. This applies for two weeks after arrival in Sweden. Members of staff are to report their absence and stay in touch with their supervisor. Students are to contact the course coordinator.

No international business travel is permitted. This includes travel that has already been booked.

This decision applies until 30 April, when it will be reviewed.

We advise against business travel within Sweden and recommend digital meetings instead.

Travelling to and from work is not covered by this recommendation.

The is now a national information number 113 13 – if you have questions about COVID-19.

You can find more information on the following pages:

• Information from the healthcare hotline 1177 about COVID-19 (in Swedish but based on the information from the Public Health Agency)
• The most recent local information from medical services at Region Örebro County (in Swedish)
• Emergency information from Swedish authorities (krisinformation.se)
• Questions and answers about the coronavirus on the Public Health Agency's website
• Up-to-date information about the spread of the coronavirus on the Public Health Agency's website (in Swedish)
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommendations (in Swedish)
• Up-to-date information about the coronavirus on WHO's website
• Updates from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control

You can send your question to:

We get a lot of questions right now, but will answer as soon as we can!