Information about the Coronavirus (COVID-19)

All BI's campuses are open
The government decided Monday 15 March to close all higher education institutions in all municipalities in Viken.

The new restrictions in Oslo did not result in a requirement to close campus for students. The infection rate in Oslo is high, so we are prepared to close at short notice. 

Please note that campus facilities are only available for students from BI. From Thursday 18 March BI will implement access control for students. 

Campus Bergen and Trondheim implement one meter distance to others. You must still keep a minimum of two meters to others at campus Oslo and campus Stavanger.

Digital teaching
To ensure an equal experience across BI's campuses and predictability for our students, BI has decided to extend the period with digital teaching until the end of the semester for all full-time students. 

Corporate and executive students will have only digital teaching until 12 April. Depending on the infection level after Easter BI will consider possible on-campus teaching activities for Executive and Corporate programmes, and PhD candidates from week 15 (12 April).

Digital exams only Spring 2021
To ensure predictability for students, only digital exams will be conducted at BI this semester. No school exams with physical attendance will be held at any of BI's campuses. 

More information about exams at BI this semester, including updates regarding grading, extended deadline for exam registration and withdrawal, and new deadline to apply for special examination arrangements.

Updated 3 May 2021

From 1 August there are 162 confirmed cases of COVID-19 at BI Norwegian Business School.

	Infected students
Oslo	77
Bergen	75
Stavanger	3
Trondheim	7

MEASURES & CASES AT OUR CAMPUSES

21.04.21 Campus Oslo. A student confirmed infected with Covid-19 Monday 19 April. Showed symptoms Sunday 18 April. The student was on campus in the Library on 5th floor every day from Tursday 13 April to Saturday 17 April. Close contacts have been notified and quarantined.

19.04.21 Campus Oslo. A student confirmed infected with Covid-19 Saturday 17 April. Showed symptoms Friday 16 April and got tested the same day. The student was on campus in U-area Wednesday 14 April and Thursday 15 April for 5-6 hours both days. It was more than two meters distance from fellow students, and assumably no close contacts.

09.04.21 Campus Trondheim. Student confirmed infected friday 9 April. The student was on campus Monday 5 April from 10-16 and Tuesday 6 April from 16-20. The council of Trondheim asks all student visiting campus on any of the above mentioned days to test themselves for Covid-19 as soon as possible. Information is sent to full-time student on e-mail. Close contacts have been notified and quarantined.

29.03.21 Campus Oslo. Two students confirmed infected with Covid-19. The first student was on campus Wednesday 24 March in the library 5th floor from 11:15 am - 4:30 pm. Got symptoms Friday 26 March. Tested positiv Sunday 28 March. The second student was on campus 22 and 23 March from 10 am until 5 pm. Seated in U1 both days. Tested positive Monday 29 March. Close contacts have been notified and quarantined.

25.03.21 Campus Oslo. A student confirmed infected with Covid-19 Thursday 25 March.The student was in the library 5th floor Monday 22 March from 10:00-20:00. Close contacts have been notified and quarantined.

23.03.21 Campus Oslo. A student confirmed infected with Covid-19 Thursday 18 March. The student was on campus Monday 15 March in CU and Tuesday 16 March in CU and the D-block. Showed symptoms Thursday 18 March. Close contacts have been notified and quarantined.

22.03.21 Campus Stavanger. One student confirmed infected with Covid-19 Saturday 20 March. The student was on campus Monday morning 15 March and sat alone at a table outside the group rooms on 3rd floor. Showed symptoms Wednesday 17 March and got tested Friday 19 March. Local health authorities have been in contact with the student and close contacts have been quarantined. There are no close contacts at BI.

21.03.21 Campus Oslo. A student has been confirmed infected with Covid-19 Thursday 18 March. The student sat at a round table on the first floor in the B-block between 12-16 on Tuesday 16 March, and showed symptoms Wednesday 19 March. Close contacts have been notified and quarantined.

17.03.21 Campus Oslo: Two students confirmed infected with Covid-19

The first student visited campus on Monday 15 March between 10-14. Experienced symptoms and got tested the same day. Confirmed positive with the UK variant of the coronavirus 16 March. The student was seated at a table in the library’s common areas on the 6th floor (towards PST).

The second student visited campus on Monday 15 March between 14:20-15:00. Experienced symptoms Tuesday 16 March and tested positive for Covid-19 on 17 March. The student stayed in the library on the 5th floo   

Local health authorities have initiated necessary measures like quarantine and contact tracing. Four students are quarantined.

15.03.21 Campus Oslo. One student has been confirmed infected with Covid-19. The person in question showed symptoms 9 March and was physically at BI on Tuesday 9 March and Wednesday 10 March in a seating area in U1 and group rooms at the library. This is not a mutated variant of the virus. Close contacts have been notified and quarantined.

09.02.21 Campus Oslo. Academic activities in smaller groups are postponed until after Easter. Due to the increasing infection situation, it has been decided to postpone the optional learning-based activities on campus until after Easter. These activities were announced in a newsletter 25 February.

25.02.21 Digital teaching extended through March on all campuses.

21.02.21 Campus Bergen reopened for students 22 February. 

17.02.21 Campus Oslo reopened 18 February. Please note that campus facilities are only available for students from BI. We wish the students welcome back.

17.02.21 Campus Trondheim reopened. We wish the students welcome back.

04.02.21 Digital teaching on all campuses through February and digital exams only Spring 2021. To ensure predictability for students, no school exams with physical attendance will be held at any of BI's campuses this semester. Campus Oslo closed until and including Wednesday 10 February (with new guidelines from the government expected the same day). All other campuses remain open.

15.02.21 Campus Bergen remains closed. The measures are prolonged until and including 22 February.

10.02.21 Campus Trondheim closed from 11 February. The new measures are implemented until and including 17 February.

10.02.21 Campus Oslo remains closed. The government has prolonged the current measures until 17 February.

07.02.21 Campus Bergen closed. Based on the government’s new and stricter measures for infection prevention in Bergen, campus Bergen will be closed from 7 February. The new measures are implemented until 14 February.

25.01.21 Campus Oslo: A student was confirmed infected with COVID-19 on Sunday 24 January. The student was on campus in the large quiet area on the 5th floor on 21 and 22 January and showed symptoms on Saturday 23 January.

23.01.21 Campus Oslo closed from 12:00 pm Saturday 23 January and until further notice. Until 12 February, all teaching at BI will be digital. Due to the infection situation, campus Oslo is closed for students from 23 January and until further notice. All other campuses remain open. 

21.01.21 Digital teaching extended until 12 February. Until 12 February, all teaching will be digital, but the campuses will still be open. 

02.01.21 Digital teaching in January on all campuses. In January, all teaching will go digital but the campuses will still be open. We encourage you to delay any travels back to your student destination if this is possible. Pay attention to itslearning for details.

28.10.20 Campus Oslo: Only digital lectures from Friday 30 October. Following new advice and recommendations from Oslo Municipality and the government, all teaching will go digital throughout the semester from and including Friday 30 October. Campus will still be open to students even though teaching takes place online. It is now compulsory to use face masks when you move around the building.

28.10.20 Campus Bergen: Prolongs digital teaching throughout the semester. Following new advice and recommendations from Bergen Municipality and the government, all teaching will go digital throughout the semester. Campus will still be open to students even though teaching takes place online. It is now compulsory to use face masks when you move around in the building.

22.11.20 Campus Oslo: An infected student was on campus Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 November. 4 students are quarantined. The student used group room B5-115 and sat in the area outside the group rooms in CU1.

02.11.20 Campus Oslo: A student was in the study areas at the library for a few hours on Monday 2 November. The student got symptoms Monday night. Confirmed infected with Covid-19 on Friday 6 November. Those who sat nearby in the study areas have been contacted and quarantined.

26.10.20 Campus Oslo: A student from Bachelor in International Management 1st year was confirmed with COVID-19 infection Sunday 25 October. The student attended a lecture (Spå 29001 Business communication: culture and ethics in Finn Øien 08:00-09:45) on Wednesday October 21 and had already light symptoms at this time. 

25.10.20 Campus Oslo: A bachelor student was confirmed with COVID-19 infection Saturday 24 October. The student attended lecture Tuesday 20 October in ELE 3776 Matematisk analyse in A1-030 from 15:00-16:45 and Wednesday 21 October in SØK 3520 Mikroøkonomi in A1-040 from 15:00-16:45. All students that potentially attended these lectures have been informed and asked to stay at home and follow online lectures next week (week 44).

25.10.20 Campus Bergen: Only digital teaching in week 44. The measure lasts until Friday 30.10.20. This is due to an increasing number of cases of Covid-19 among BI students the last few days. Several of the infected students have been present in lectures and on campus.

25.10.20 Campus Oslo: PhD candidate was confirmed with Covid-19 infection Friday 23 October. The candidate attended lecture Tuesday 20.10 in DRE 4010 Advanced Microeconomics in B2-065 and Thursday 22.10 in DRE 7008 Advanced Statistics in C2-090. Affected PhD candidates and faculty having to prepare for online distribution have been informed.

23.10.20 Campus Bergen: Only digital teaching for several first-year bachelor programmes in week 44. One student has been confirmed infected with COVID-19. The infected student attended the lecture in BØK 3422 Bedriftsøkonomisk analyse Tuesday 20 October and tested positive Thursday 22 October.

23.10.20 Campus Oslo: MSc in Finance student was confirmed with COVID-19 infection Thursday 22 October. The student attended the lecture in GRA 6542 Corporate Governance Monday 19.10 15:00-16:45 in auditorium C2-080 and GRA 6559 Fintech Wednesday 21.10 13:00-14:45 in auditorium C2-005. All students that attended these lectures have been asked to stay at home and follow all teaching online until Monday 2 November.

15.10.20 Campus Oslo: MSc in Business student was confirmed with COVID-19 infection Thursday 15 October. The student attended a lecture in GRA 6534 Investments Tuesday 13.10 10:00-11:45 in auditorium C2-080. In order to reduce the risk of further infections all students that attended this lecture have been asked to stay at home and follow all teaching online until Monday 26 October.  

11.10.20 Campus Oslo: Student from Bachelor in business (SiVILØKONOM) 2nd year confirmed infected with COVID-19 Saturday 10 October. The student was last on campus attending the lecture in BØK 3532 Finansregnskap og regnskapsanalyse i auditorium C1-010 from 10:00-11:45 on Wednesday October 7. The students attending this class have been asked not to come to campus and follow all teaching online in week 42 (12-16 October).

10.10.20 Campus Bergen: Only digital teaching for Bachelor in retail management 2nd year in week 42. Three students from campus Bergen have been confirmed infected with COVID-19 this week. One of the infected students attended the lecture in VHL 3559 Økonomistyring og lean i Monday 5 october from 08:00-09:45.

21.09.20 Campus Oslo: 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. 

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 note that campus facilities are only available for students from BI. You are not allowed to admit guests or students from other campuses.

Student ID/access card must be available. Random ID checks may occur to uphold the infection control measures.

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. Keep a minimum of two meters to others at campus Oslo and Stavanger. Keep one meter distance at campus Trondheim and Bergen.
• 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.

At all our campuses, it is now mandatory to use face masks for both students and staff when they move around in the building. On campus Bergen and campus Oslo it was mandatory from Friday 30 October. On campus Trondheim and campus Stavanger it was mandatory from Thursday 19 November. 

You do not need to wear a face mask when seated, provided you are able to maintain a distance of at least 1 meter from those around you. Masks can be picked up at the reception/InfoHub on all campuses. For a face mask to be effective it is important to use it correctly. See more information on NIPH's webpage.

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.

Self-test for Covid-19 is available for students and employees at campus Oslo
These tests are intended for students and employees who come to campus. If you have symptoms or have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive, you must not show up on campus but take a regular test at a test centre.

These quick tests are a supplement to the infection control measures, and do not replace the regular testing. You pick up the test kit at/by InfoHub where you need to make a simple registration to receive it.

• 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.

• Incoming Exchange – Students from abroad coming to BI
• Outgoing Exchange - Students from BI going abroad

Please find relevant information for your entry to Norway here. 

In case you need to do a travel quarantine, it is your responsibility to check with your housing provider if you are able to stay there during your quarantine or if you need to check in to a quarantine hotel.

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 spring's teaching and learning activities are planned based on this premise.

Like all other universities and colleges, BI is regarding a somewhat different teaching setup due to the pandemic and has facilitated a combination of physical and digital teaching. Efforts have been made to increase the capacity for streaming and make the necessary adjustments and adaptations so that the teaching 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 measures to prevent spread of infection. In periods with high infection rate we will only be able to offer digital teaching. 

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 as described on the page Speak up - Complaints about teaching on the Student Portal.