COVID-19 FAQ

At a press conference today at 12 the Prime Minister has announced that the COVID-19 alert level will be raised in a number of municipalities around the country’s major cities from Wednesday 9 December 2020 to 3 January 2021. Aarhus Municipality is among the municipalities where COVID-19 restrictions are introduced.

Unfortunately, the new restrictions mean that the institutions of Higher Education in the municipalities in question will be closed for physical access to the campus and all teaching and meeting activities must take place online during the quarantine period.

This also applies to the Aarhus School of Architecture – all physical activity at the school ceases and all staff and students will be sent home and encouraged to work and study from home to the extent possible.

All planned activities at the Aarhus School of Architecture will therefore be suspended from Wednesday 9 December 2020 and provisionally until 3 January 2021.

Do not attend the school if you have COVID-19 symptoms (typically: fever, coughing, a sore throat, headaches, muscle aches and difficulties breathing). If the above symptoms occur while you are at school, go home as soon as possible. Once home you need to:

• Self-isolate in your home. You must not attend school again until you have been without symptoms for 48 hours.
• Contact your own doctor, who will assess whether you should be tested.

You should also read the leaflet of the Danish Health Authority: Til dig der har symptomer på COVID-19 (pdf in Danish).

Aarhus School of Architecture encourages students and staff to use the official app for tracking infection smitte|stop, which supports contact tracking in the event of an outbreak.

If you test positive for COVID-19, you must go into quarantine in your own home and notify the school’s Director of Administration at ckr@aarch.dk.

It is important that you:

• Isolate in your home and follow the recommendations of the health authorities. You must not attend school again until you have been without symptoms for 48 hours.
• You should also read the pamphlet of the Danish Health Authority: What to do if you test positive for novel coronavirus.

If you have tested positive for COVID-19, you will be contacted by The Danish Patient Safety Authority with the aim of tracking down the infection.

Aarhus School of Architecture encourages students and staff to use the official app for tracking infection smitte|stop, which supports contact tracking in the event of an outbreak.

If you have been in close contact with someone showing symptoms of COVID-19, pay special attention to signs of illness and follow the general guidelines of the health authorities even more closely.

If you have been in close contact with a person infected with COVID-19, you should do as follows:

• Go home immediately and isolate yourself in your home.
• Arrange to be tested as soon as possible, and in general follow the health authorities’ recommendations.
• You must not attend school again until you know the test is negative.

If you are tested positive, follow the guidelines set out under the heading What should I do if I test positive for COVID-19?

According to the Danish Health Authority, the following people should be regarded as close contacts:

• People living with someone who is infected
• People who have had direct physical contact (e.g. hugging) with someone who is infected
• Persons who have been exposed to unprotected and direct contact with secretions from an infected person (e.g. having been coughed on or having touched a used handkerchief)
• People who have had close ‘face-to-face’ contact within a distance of one metre for more than 15 minutes with someone who is infected (e.g. having a conversation with the person in question)
• Healthcare professionals who have been caring for a patient infected with COVID-19 and who have not used protective equipment in the prescribed ways.

Read more about this in the leaflet of the Danish Health Authority: Til dig, der er nær kontakt til en person, der er testet positiv for ny coronavirus (pdf in Danish).

From Thursday 29 October, students and staff at Aarhus School of Architecture must wear a face mask or visor on all common areas at the School.

However, the requirement does not apply in study and teaching situations in the studios, in seminar rooms and in auditoriums – or for employees in their own or joint offices.

If you as a student are unable to attend school physically due to circumstances directly related to COVID-19, you can apply for a dispensation to continue your studies from home. You can apply for a dispensation on Moodle (login required) – remember to enclose documentation for the conditions.

If you have questions or need a personal dialogue, please contact Head of Administration Christian Koch Ramsing at ckr@aarch.dk.

At Aarhus School of Architecture, the first day of term, 1 September, will be held in accordance with the guidelines of the authorities.

However, the framework for the first day of term has been affected by the situation with COVID-19. More specifically, this means that:

• Introductory courses will, as far as possible, take place at the school, but in small groups and taking into account current requirements for social distancing.
• No parties are held and no alcohol consumed in connection with the introductory programme.
• The RUS week will not be held before the first day of term.

If there are any changes to your programme for the first day of term, you will be notified directly.  If you have further questions, you are welcome to contact the Education Secretariat.

Read more about the first day of term 2020 (in Danish).

As of 1 August 2020, Aarhus School of Architecture has been open for physical attendance to both students and teachers.

When attending the school you must still take into account the authorities’ general recommendations and guidelines.

The first day of term, 1 September, will take place and will involve physical attendance. Read more about the first day of term 2020 (in Danish).

Everyone is encouraged to stay updated on the guidelines for attending the school and using the school’s facilities. The current guidelines are stated on posters and notices around the school and will also be distributed by email.

See how you limit the risk of infection when at the school.

Yes, the study units are permitted to work in the studios and thus deviate from the distance requirement of one metre for groups of up to 30 students. However, no one besides the affiliated students and teachers are permitted in the studios. Students and teachers must keep a social distance of at least one metre.

No, it is not permitted to visit each other across studios.

Supervision will take place at ‘supervision stations’ in the studios; stations the teachers set up to avoid moving about unnecessarily at the school and to ensure that the distance requirement can be complied with.

It is possible to hold events physically at the school if the current guidelines are met.

In doubt whether your event can be held at the school? Take a look at this illustration which should help answer your question.

All lectures this semester will be held online – either using Teams or a streaming service. The teachers will be sending out information to the relevant students.

No, there will be no registration of attendance at compulsory lectures this semester.

If you are doing an internship this semester, you must follow the guidance and recommendations of the training place.

It is important that you contact the school if you experience problems at your training place or if conditions change. You may contact Monica Mikkelsen at: mm@aarch.dk.

As long as you are enrolled as a student at the Aarhus School of Architecture, we expect you to follow the school guidelines. If you are in doubt about anything, please contact the international coordinator Jørgen Helstrup at jhel@aarch.dk.

Students on their first year of study have access to teaching that has been planned to take place in the workshop facilities. All other year groups may be given an exemption to attend planned teaching activities taking place in the workshop facilities by the Head of Education.

Students have individual access to working in the workshop facilities, as long as the applicable guidelines and capacity requirements are complied with.

We are currently working on a booking system to give students access to the workshops. The system is also used to book workshop machines. We expect that students will have individual access to the workshops from 14 September.

A plan for this is under preparation.

The library is open for visits during regular opening hours, so it is possible to borrow and return materials.

You can work at the library, but the distance requirement also applies here, so there will be certain restrictions.

Please note the following:

• Visitors must use the provided hand sanitizer before entering the library.
• Eating in the library is not allowed.
• Group workstations are not available, but there are workplaces for individuals in the library’s quiet zone. Visitors are required to disinfect surfaces and contact points at the workplace when leaving it.
• Remember to bring your own laptop, as the library’s computers are not available.
• Keep at least 1 meter away from everyone else in the library.

It is possible to create and use semester shelves on usual terms.

Yes, it is important to keep your distance from others when present at the school (one metre or more).

Read more about the precautions you need to take when at the school under See how you limit the risk of infection.

All teachers are encouraged to help increase the awareness of the guidelines and ensure that they are adhered to from day to day.

In each study unit, four ‘infection stoppers’ are appointed from among the students. They are given the task of disinfecting teaching rooms, meeting rooms and studios when teaching has finished.

If during a teaching situation you find that it is not possible to adhere to distance and hygiene guidelines, you should stop the teaching. Please contact the school’s Director of Administration if this is necessary to rectify the situation.

The students have been sent a link to the guide How to limit the risk of infection when attending the school.

If you need a face mask or a face visor to be able to carry out your work in a responsible manner, please contact Head of Building Maintenance Niels Meldgaard Andersen at nma@aarch.dk.

To be given face masks, please contact Head of Building Maintenance Niels Meldgaard Andersen at nma@aarch.dk.

If you are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, please contact your immediate manager with a view to making further arrangements.

If you are unable to attend the school physically due to circumstances directly related to COVID-19, please contact your immediate manager to make further arrangements.