Information about the Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Updated Friday 25 September 2020

From 1 August there are 41 confirmed cases of COVID-19 at BI Norwegian Business School.

ONGOING ACTIONS AT OUR CAMPUS

21.09.20: An MSc in Business student has been confirmed with COVID-19 infection. The student was last on campus on Thursday 19 September attending a lecture in GRA 6534 Investments 17:00-18:45 in auditorium C1-060. All students that potentially attended this lecture have been informed and asked to stay at home and follow online lectures this week (week 39).

18.09.20:A student attending HIS 3410 Bedriften OH3 Tuesday 15.09 17:00-18:45 in C1-010 has been infected with COVID-19. All students that potentially attended this lecture have been informed and asked to stay at home and follow online lectures next week (week 39)

16.09.20: One student at campus Trondheim was confirmed infected on Tuesday 15 September, after last visiting campus on 8 September. A second student tested positive on Wednesday 16 September, but did not visit campus after first experiencing symptoms. Eight fellow students have been quarantined.

08.09.20: Only digital teaching at BI - campus Bergen after new infection control measures. The measure lasts until Wednesday 23.09.20. 

PREVIOUS MEASURES AT OUR CAMPUS

14.09.20: All students who attended a lecture in the master course GRA 6038 Ethics and Sustainability in Organizations on Tuesday 8 September from 10:00-11:45 are asked to follow online teaching in week 38.
- applies to a group of 30 students from 1st year MSc in Business, Leadership and Change and 1st year MSc Leadership and Organizational Psychology

13.09.20: Students who attended lectures in two courses at campus Oslo have been asked to follow online teaching in week 38 after an infected student participated in class in week 37. The two lectures were:
- SPÅ 2901 Business communication: culture and ethics in the Finn Øien auditorium on Wednesday 9 September between 08:00-09:45
- HIS 3410 Bedriften in auditorium C1 000 on Thursday 10 September between 08:00-09:45

06.09.20: Bachelor in Økonomi og administrasjon 1st year at campus Oslo moves to online teaching only in week 37.
- A student in the programme was confirmed infected on Saturday 5 September.
- The student was attending classes in week 35 and parts of week 36.
- To avoid further spread of infection, all teaching will be moved online in week 37.

31.08.20: Only online teaching for Bachelor in Business Law and Economics and Bachelor in Real Estate, Law and Economics 1st year in week 36.
- Four students from Bachelor in Business Law were confirmed infected with COVID-19 in week 36.
- Due to a lot of coincidental teaching between the two programmes, all teaching for both programmes will be moved online in week 36.

Read more about BI's guidelines for infection prevention.

Please make sure you apply with our guidelines to prevent transmission (pdf). Main precautions:

• Stay at home if you are sick. 
• Keep good hand hygiene and cough etiquette. 
• Reduce contact with others and keep a minimum of one meter to others. 
• Avoid public transportation in rush hour if possible.

If a student or employee is infected, we kindly ask the person to register on bi.edu. In some cases, BI can also be notified directly by the local health authorities.

BI considers measures especially in those cases where the person in question has been present in teaching from 48 hours before showing symptoms. The following division of responsibilities applies:

Municipality:

• Should a student or employee test positive for COVID-19, this may mean that many or all those present in e.g. lecture will be quarantined by the local health authorities.
• It is the local health authorities (not BI) who coordinates the detection of infection around proven cases, and who assesses whether an entire class / group must be quarantined or not.
• BI's infection control measures lays the foundation and the experience so far is that in most cases whole classes / groups are not quarantined, but those who have been closest to the person in question.
• In some cases, it is unclear who has been sitting next to you, but here compliance with distance and infection control measures will result in a low probability of the spread of infection.
• If you are not contacted by the local health authorities, you are not defined as close contact or quarantined. 

In principle, it is the diagnosing doctor (often a general practitioner, emergency doctor or hospital doctor) who has a duty to carry out infection detection (cf. section 3-6). As a rule, it is the local health authorities who succeed to and coordinates the detection of infections around proven cases. 

BI: 

• Have you been present in e.g. lecture where a person was proven infected, there will still be a probability that you are infected, even if you are not defined as close contact by the local health authorities. This probability is normally considered low. 
• In each individual case, BI will assess the risk of the spread of infection and may decide that the affected class / group must conduct further examinations / teaching digitally over the next 10 days, even if the local health authorities does not impose quarantine.
• As a lecturer, you can still go to work as long as it is in line with BI's infection control measures and you are not quarantined by the local health authorities.
• BI can strongly encourage you as a student not to attend campus but cannot impose this on you. BI will not map close contacts, impose quarantine, or provide information about where the person was sitting. 

Can I go to work / lecture? 

It is referred to in the point above that there is a low probability of infection if you have not been contacted and quarantined by the local health authorities. If you have not been informed of anything else, you can show up physically in teaching, provided that the other infection control measures are complied with.

In those cases where BI decides on digital teaching for classes / groups, this is done for "precautionary" reasons. This means that there is a low probability that you are infected, but you must clarify with the employer etc. whether it is desirable that you show up physically.

The same applies to motility elsewhere in society. For BI's campus, BI's advice and recommendations apply. In addition to this, the individual must also follow the advice from the local health authorities at any given time.

Students are not obliged to wear a face mask during lectures, but those who wish to use them may pick one up from the reception desk on all campuses.

BI recommends all employees who are in close contact with students, less than 2 meters for more than 15 minutes, to wear face masks. Lecturers do not need to wear a face mask when teaching, but is recommended to use it when counselling students.

BI’s guidelines for infection prevention and the infection control measures are based on the advice from the health authorities and FHI.

As a BI student you can make an appointment to be tested for COVID-19 by SiO’s health services. Please find more information on how to book an appointment and the testing procedures here.

• Follow the guidelines from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI)
  The Norwegian health authorities will follow up persons with confirmed COVID-19 infections. If you have been in close contact with an infected person, you must self-quarantine at home for 14 days. Close contact means less than two meters from an infected person for more than 15 minutes, or direct physical contact.
• Inform BI
  We would like you to inform us if you experience symptoms of the coronavirus. Use the form below to register. BI will follow up affected students and employees.

• Students: register here

• Employees: register here

• Register your symptoms with FHI to help map the outbreak
  In order to map infections, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI) asks people with symptoms of the corona-virus to register. This service is only to map infections. You will not be contacted by the medical services, nor will FHI inform people you may have been in contact with. Follow the guidelines form FHI if you believe you may be infected.

BI is closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation. As information is expected to change, we ask you to check this page regularly for the latest updates. The security of the students is our top priority, and we do our best to provide as much information and predictability as possible. Read more

You will always find updated information about the coronavirus at the websites of The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NHI). Including information about the following:

• Facts about the virus
• How to prevent infection
• What to do if you think you may be infected
• Information about quarantine and isolation

Please remember that the local student welfare organisations offer medical services:

Campus Oslo : sio.no
Campus Bergen: sammen.no
Campus Stavanger: studentensbeste.no
Campus Trondheim: sit.no

Student counselling at BI is available by Skype, FaceTime or telephone. Send an email to counselling@bi.no or to The University Chaplain at studentprest@bi.no to make an appointment.

SiO also offers support to students:
https://sio.no/en/health-services/someone-to-talk-to

We understand that you as students are passionate about the best possible learning outcome. We are as well. Therefore, this autumn's teaching and learning activities are planned based on this premise.

Like all other universities and colleges, BI is in the initial phase regarding a somewhat different teaching setup due to the pandemic. In a short time, BI has facilitated a combination of physical and digital teaching. Efforts are now being made to increase the capacity for streaming and make the necessary adjustments and adaptations so that the teaching in the future will be as good as possible.

The combination of physical and digital lectures will ensure that we deliver a flexible product of high quality to all our students. We work as fast as we can to use the digital teaching methods that are best suited for the course / program you take.

The learning objectives will remain the same even if the delivery is somewhat different than before. The assumption that this is a financial saving for BI and other universities and colleges is incorrect. It is rather the opposite. Like the rest of the sector, we have had to invest significant sums, both in terms of new infrastructure and additional work for our employees.

Let there be no doubt that BI wants to facilitate campus-based teaching. Despite this, we must meet the requirements of keeping at least 1-meter distance. We have therefore had to reduce the capacity of our teaching rooms in line with the government's strict measures to prevent spread of infection.

Finally, we would like to remind you that BI Norwegian Business School is a self-owned foundation with the purpose of conducting education and research. All value creation at BI is used to strengthen the business, which means that a possible profit provides an opportunity for more research and development of studies.

The changed teaching offer does not entitle to a refund of tuition fees or other costs.

Inquiries are asked to be directed to class contacts and representatives in BISO so they can take the matter further to BI through the right channels.

We are very optimistic that most of our international students will be able to arrive in time for the beginning of the semester, however the situation is still uncertain around the world. At this time only the Norwegian government authorities and the government of your home country can give you answers regarding your individual situation.

Students travelling to Norway are now required to wear masks when travelling from the airport to their residence. All student from countries identified as 'red' countries by the Norwegian authorities are required to quarantine for 10 days.

If you have questions about your immigration to Norway or the status of your application for a study permit, you need to contact UDI directly. 

BI has decided to cancel exchange to and from all countries for the autumn semester 2020. Read more.