KsTU Priorities

KsTU is committed to keeping employees and students safe during these times that difficult decisions have to be made. On 11^th March, 2020, the World Health Organisation declared COVID-19 as a pandemic. The president of Ghana gave directives on Sunday 15^th March, 2020 that all educational institutions should close down for four weeks. By this directive, KsTU seeks to find ways to comply by encouraging all faculty, staff, and students to stay at home, except ‘skeletal staff’ who may remain at work, just to keep the University running. The essence is to minimize contacts to the lowest level.

KsTU recognizes its obligation to take affirmative steps to address concerns of employees and protect the workforce from contracting and spreading the virus. The Institution wishes to encourage staff and students to employ the ‘common-sense’ approach in addressing issues concerning the novel coronavirus outbreak in the workplace and home.

KsTU recommends the following common-sense list to help staff, students and others to remain safe:

• KsTU recommends social distancing

The World Health Organisation recommends that in order to reduce spread of the corona virus, social distancing is essential. Workers and their dependents who develop symptoms of acute respiratory illness and/or have fever (body temperature of 37.8°C or above) should stay away from work and seek medical help immediately. Employees may then notify their supervisors.

Sick leave policies have been made more flexible and employees will be informed in due course. For example, staff are not required to provide medical excuse duty to the University when sick during this period.

There is flexible arrangement permissible for the skeletal staff at work to stay home to take care of their sick children or other sick family members.

• Separation of sick staff from ‘healthy ones’

Staff who appear sick with cough, shortness of breath on arrival to work or during the day should be separated from other employees. Such people should cover their noses and mouths with a tissue when coughing or sneezing and report to the clinic for assessment immediately.

• Ventilation

Employees are encouraged to move and work in more open and well-ventilated areas. This ensures that there is less likelihood of circulation of contaminated air in the work area.

• Observation of respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene

Posters have already been distributed at the work place and its environs to encourage good hand hygiene. Employees are entreated to clean their hands often with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol or wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Veronica buckets are to be provided at vantage points for this purpose.

The Pharmaceutical Sciences Department of KsTU has started preparing 70% alcohol-based hand sanitizers to be distributed among staff of the University and people around the main University campus. It is hoped that adequate supplies can be maintained.

One should always cover the nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing, or use the flexed-elbow to cover the nose or mouth when tissues are not readily available.

Also, employees must discard used tissue in the various waste disposal receptacles provided.

• Routine environmental cleaning

Employees are encouraged to clean frequently touched surfaces in the workplace such as workstations, doorknobs, etc. using antiseptics.

Keyboards, remote controls and desks must also be regularly cleaned or sanitized before and after each use.

• Travel advise

Both local and international travels are discouraged especially when one is travelling by public transport. Local movement in taxis, ‘trotros’, buses, Uber/Bolt etc. should be done with care in order to minimize physical contact.

Non-essential travels, meetings, etc. should be reduced or discouraged.

The University Community is encouraged to maintain contact without any physical contact. In that regard, meetings can be held on platforms; web-seminars, web-conferences and other virtual platforms can be adopted without the physical presence of members.

Employees who return from areas where COVID-19 is wide-spread should self-isolate and monitor themselves for symptoms for 14 days. This involves taking the body temperature twice a day. Mild coughs or even low-grade fevers (i.e. a temperature of 37.3°C or more) should be reported to the nearest healthcare facility.

• Emergency Response Team

The University has an emergency response team that keeps updating the Community on all necessary information on COVID-19. The team is in the process of getting a hotline that employees can call for information on the disease. In the interim, staff can obtain relevant information on COVID-19 from the University Clinic or the University Health Directorate.