April 26, 2021
To all staff and students,
Due to the novel coronavirus situation, the government has issued a State of Emergency that covers Tokyo and 3 areas in Kansai (Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo). Hyogo prefecture has been affected by coronavirus variants and the number of cases have continued to rapidly increase since the end of March. It has been reported that even those with severe symptoms have been unable to receive sufficient medical treatment and the medical system is on the brink of collapse. Stopping the spread of infection is a pressing issue and we must all do our utmost in order to protect people’s lives. I strongly urge all of you to continue thoroughly practicing infection prevention measures in order to protect our education and research activities as well.
For students, this third State of Emergency has been issued just as you were beginning to return to normal student life with the commencement of in-person classes. I’m afraid your difficulties will continue for a while longer. However, I believe that we will definitely overcome this novel coronavirus pandemic as vaccination programs proceed and advances are made in drug development, which our university has also been working hard towards. Although Kobe University has fortunately not had any clusters, the number of student cases has been gradually increasing. Therefore, we must take even more thorough precautions against infection than before. From the bottom of my heart, I am thankful for all the staff who have strived to conduct education, research, university administration and provided medical care at the university hospital in the midst of the novel coronavirus’s continued spread. Please keep continuing your valued efforts.
At present, there will not be any changes to the restriction levels in ‘Kobe University’s Activity Restriction Measures to Prevent Widespread Novel Coronavirus Infection’. Since last year we have been carrying out thorough infection prevention measures. Furthermore, we will keep activity restrictions to a minimum and enforce stronger infection prevention measures that will allow us to continue our activities relating to research, education and the running of the university, in accordance with the request from MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) urging universities to implement thorough infection prevention while maintaining learning opportunities.
In addition, I ask each and every staff member and student to put greater effort into following infection prevention measures properly outside of the university as well. Please act appropriately- avoid high risk behaviors (such as dining in groups), refrain from holding social gatherings where alcohol is involved and avoid going outside for unnecessary and non-urgent reasons. Also, make sure that you do not take part in activities that inconvenience local residents such as drinking on the street or in parks.
Kobe University will strictly enforce infection prevention measures and continue to carry out education and research activities while prioritizing the safety and welfare of our staff and students. Although the situation continues with seemingly no end in sight, we must all band together to overcome these difficulties. As your president, I ask for everyone’s cooperation in this. Let’s do our best until this pandemic ends.
President FUJISAWA Masato
April 23, 2021