In the update from 18 December we informed you about the week before the Christmas holiday after the hard lockdown was announced. The situation looks unlikely to change immediately after the Christmas holiday. This means that our teaching will be online, with the exception of practicals. The exams that are scheduled for after the Christmas holiday will be held in person where possible. Students can find any changes on Brightspace.

Unfortunately, we don’t yet know what the situation will be in the new year. We are therefore waiting for the next press conference. We hope to return to in-person teaching as soon as possible after Christmas, but cannot yet say when this will be.

We understand that this is a difficult situation for international students, but we do ask our students who can to come to Leiden and The Hague. Although we don’t know when the teaching will be in person again, the intention is to return to the lecture halls as soon as the measures allow.

We wish everyone a peaceful Christmas and look forward to meeting up,  in the new year, be it online or offline.

At the press conference on Saturday 18 December, the government announced a hard lockdown. This also affects Leiden University.

As of Monday 20 December, the following measures will apply:

• All in-person teaching has been cancelled, with the exception of practicals. For practicals a maximum applies of 75 people per room. Online teaching that was already planned will continue. Lecturers who wish to come to the University for this teaching have permission to do so. We obviously cannot expect planned in-person teaching to be converted to online teaching at such short notice, but if lecturers do wish to do so, we would ask them to discuss this with their programme director or coordinator.
• We ask students to look on Brightspace to see if there are changes to their course.
• Exams will go ahead as planned, with no maximum number of people per room. Where possible, people should distance from one another.
• Staff must work from home as much as possible.
• Critical processes (animal care, technology, security etc.) and vital roles can continue.
• Research work can continue. The same rule applies here: work from home as much as possible.
• Study and workspaces will remain available through the booking system. Options will also remain for supporting vulnerable students.
• PhD ceremonies will be held mostly online; the only people present in the building will be the PhD candidate and those who have to be there.
• The University catering facilities will only be available for take away.
• The sports facilities are closed for indoor sports. Very limited outdoor sports are possible. More information will be available on the University Sports Centre (USC) website from Monday.
• The Hortus botanicus is closed.

Otherwise the basic rules continue to apply:

• Get tested as soon as possible if you have symptoms
• Do the Corona Check before you come to the University.
• Distance by 1.5m if and when you can.
• Do a self-test (lateral flow) twice a week, even if you don’t have any symptoms. You can order them free.
• Our advice is: get vaccinated.

On 3 January the government will take a new decision about the situation after 10 January. We will inform you of what this means for us here.

In the press conference on 14 December the caretaker government did not announce any new measures that have direct consequences for higher education. The current measures will continue to apply until 14 January 2022.

The extension of the Christmas holiday for primary schools will, however, affect parents with young children. If you are affected, discuss with your manager how to find a workable solution to make this period as pleasant as possible for yourself, your family and your colleagues.