March 23, 2020

Good evening everyone,

COVID-19 continues to impact our daily lives. As you are all aware, a state of emergency has now been called in both New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. In response, provincial governments and Dalhousie University have implemented new measures to keep us safe. I encourage you to read Dalhousie’s COVID-19 page for a complete update on these measures and how they may affect you.

In this new reality, it’s important to note that the university remains open, and I am happy to report that medical and graduate classes resumed online today. Again, this has required a tremendous effort from our MedIT team, who are providing support to ensure that educational activities continue in our Faculty.

The Faculty of Medicine is assisting the health care system in any way we can. Scientists and educators in the Tupper building, LSRI and CHEB are responding to calls from NSHA and have been sending supplies and equipment to help protect the safety of health care team members, and sending reagents and equipment to assist in the testing for COVID-19.

Please take care of yourselves and be sure to continue following the advice from Public Health, including the practices of social distancing and thorough hand washing. Stay safe.

Kindest regards,

Dr. David Anderson
Dean, Faculty of Medicine

Update
This communication is to provide updates of events over the weekend. For details on more Faculty of Medicine specific information related to COVID-19, please visit: https://medicine.dal.ca/news/covid.html.

Resident Travel Advisory
With the state of emergency now in effect, new self-isolation requirements for inter-provincial travel have been introduced. We are seeking clarity about how these restrictions will apply to our residents.

At this time, and until we receive further information, we are asking all residents who arrived in Nova Scotia after 6:00 a.m. on March 23, 2020, from other provinces in Canada to self-isolate for 14 days. Please notify your program director about your need to self-isolate.

We will update you as soon as we learn more information, in hopes you can return to your rotation or regularly scheduled learning experiences as soon as possible.

Research: Emergency Contacts
As we shared on Friday, the office of the Vice President of Research and Innovation announced that all University campus-based research operations are to be suspended as of 5:00 p.m. tomorrow, mirroring the decision to suspend research activities at the University of New Brunswick that impacted Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick (DMNB) scientists late last week. As PIs prepare to shut down their laboratories, it is important to preserve the value and safety of their research projects. To do this, all labs have designated personnel to periodically check on laboratories in our facilities to ensure the integrity of valuable infrastructure and research materials. This approach has been approved by Dr. Alice Aiken, the VP for Research and Innovation at Dalhousie.

For more information on this topic, please read today’s memo from Dr. Roger McLeod, Associate Dean, Research.

COVID-19 related research projects and select other research projects approved by Dr. Aiken will be able to proceed during this period.

Staffing
A reminder that wherever feasible, all faculty and staff are expected to work remotely. Attendance on campus is strongly discouraged unless directed or permitted to attend work on campus by an administrative head.

For staff members who are working from home and are unfamiliar with using Microsoft Teams, drop-in Q&A sessions hosted by MedIT will be held daily, 12:30-1:30 p.m. Sessions can be attended online through Microsoft Teams through this link.

For recommendations for working remotely, view the Dalhousie IT guidelines for Working From Home.

Questions
Thank you to everyone who has reached out with feedback and questions during this ever-changing period and have expressed how this is impacting your education, research or professional responsibilities. Please know that we are meeting daily to address your questions and communicate the answers to you in a timely manner. If your questions aren’t answered here, or on the website, please contact the Faculty of Medicine’s Communications Advisor, Jason Bremner (jason.bremner@dal.ca)

A reminder that the Public Health Agency of Canada, Nova Scotia Public Health, New Brunswick Public Health and PEI Public Health remain the best source for up-to-date public information on this rapidly changing situation. More information related to Dalhousie can be found at www.dal.ca/coronavirus.