In light of the recent development regarding the outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in the country, we continue to closely monitor the evolving dynamics of the outbreak and its impact on our community.

According to the latest information released by the Government on March 23, 2020, the country has recorded nine new cases of Coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases to 16. As such, we would like to urge you to strictly adhere to the rules and regulations that have been set out to mitigate the spread of the virus.

The University has put measures in place to ensure that the campus continues to be safe for our community. There are sanitization points across the campus and we have also introduced the use of thermal scanners at the gate, where we will also ask any incoming visitors a few relevant questions to ensure better screening and records of anyone coming onto the campus grounds.

As communicated to you earlier, the University is currently maintaining a skeleton staff drawn from the departments essential to the operation of the University, which include:

• Security (operational for 24 hours on a shift basis)
• Finance (operational daily from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.)
• The University Health Services (operational for 24 hours on a shift basis)
• Maintenance and Administration (operational daily from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.)
• Housing Services (operational for 24 hours on a shift basis)
• The Cafeteria (operational daily from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.)
• The IT Department (operational daily from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.)
• Transport (operational daily from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.)
• Academic and Student affairs. Faculty will continue to support academic continuity activities, teaching and learning online until the end of the semester. Academic advisors can be reached through advisors@usiu.ac.ke for academic advising and pre-registration support.

In addition to these departments, the Registrar’s Office will be open every day this week, with one member of staff for each day, to oversee the pre-registration process. The Admissions Department will also have three staff members available daily to handle admissions requests from prospective students. These departments will report from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

Expect your managers to reach out to you if you are among the defined essential services above. In the event that you have any challenges in the execution of your duties, please contact your managers so that we can see how best to support each of you during this time.

We are also working to ensure that the International students who are currently on campus will be able to return to their respective homes as we await any further updates from the Government. Currently, no visitors are allowed on campus, except for essential staff.

We would like to urge you to avoid all non-essential travel in order to safeguard yourselves and your families from contracting the Coronavirus. Additionally, practice safe food handling/preparation and avoid packed take away foods and drinks as much as possible to safeguard your health from potential food poisoning due to contamination.

Prof. Paul Tiyambe Zeleza

Vice Chancellor