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Update from Secretary to College, Interim Chief Operating Officer and Director of College Health to staff and students

26 November 2021

Dear College community 

The incidence of COVID-19 remains concerningly high, with just over 62,400 cases reported in the last 14 days, according to Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan. We are all being urged to continue to make every effort we can to drive down incidence of disease and break the chains of transmission.

Thank you for your ongoing response in taking personal responsibility by not coming onto campus if you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or are a close contact of a suspected case. Please act fast, isolate, and get a PCR test if you have symptoms. Maintain adequate social distancing, wear a face mask and keep your hands clean. Consider reducing the number of events you attend. 

We strongly encourage you to get vaccinated if you have not done so already. The HSE vaccination booking site can be found here. Don’t forget you can participate in the UniCoV project which assists in the detection of increased levels of COVID-19 across higher education institutes.

Assessment plans update

You will have seen the Senior Lecturer’s and Dean of Graduate Studies’ email issued today regarding a set of measures to ensure that everyone stays safe and that no one is disadvantaged if they need to defer because they are unable to sit an in-person or online examination. To find out more information about the deferral session to February 2022, the reasons for deferral, and the upcoming exams, please visit the Academic Registry website

Lifting of temporary Trinity Hall restrictions 

As promised, the temporary restrictions regarding overnight stays and visits introduced in Trinity Hall on 15 November 2021 to help curb the number of COVID-19 cases will be lifted on Monday 29 November. This is thanks to the Trinity Hall students and staff for their perseverance during the past two weeks. We also thank the entire Trinity Hall community for supporting those who have had to isolate. We still encourage you to exercise personal responsibility and please bear in mind that the normal restrictions still apply in the run up to the exam period. More information has been sent directly to Trinity Hall residents. 

Events on campus 

While public health guidelines currently permit indoor and outdoor events, we need to be mindful that these guidelines may change in the near future. For the moment, if you are organising an event, please

  • Ask yourself whether the event can be deferred to a less uncertain time 
  • Consider whether the number of attendees can be reduced by holding the event partially or even fully on-line
  • Anticipate the risk of further Government restrictions when committing spend
  • Anticipate the need for a contingency plan, should Government restrictions be imposed at short notice 
  • Ensure compliance with public health protective measures including COVID-19 Certificate checks (vaccine or recovery certificate) and photo ID for all indoor hospitality and events; face coverings (can be removed for consumption of food and drinks); and collection of contact training data. 

All College events require approval by the Junior Dean while indoor events with more than 100 attendees require additional approval of the Trinity Living with Covid Oversight Group. For more information, please see section 5 of the Return to Campus student FAQs here

Stay safe. Stay well. Bígí slán agus sábháilte.

Kind regards, John Coman, Secretary to the College Seán Ó Comáin, Rúnaí an Choláiste Orla Cunningham, Interim Chief Operating Officer Orla Ní Chuinneagáin, An Príomhoifigeach Oibriúcháin Eatramhach Dr David McGrath, Director, College Health Service An Dr Daithi Mac Craith, Stiúrthóir, Seirbhís Sláinte an Choláiste