Dear Students
I would like to advise you regarding the Institute’s Risk Management and Action Plan in respect to the Coronavirus.
As we continue to monitor this situation closely, our first priority is your health and safely.
The Institute has setup helplines to assist with information and support if required. Please be assured that our staff are well informed, and our Student Services team can be contacted with any questions or concerns you may have. Any questions or concerns received by the Institute will be kept completely confidential.
Laurice Gea Gea 02 9209 4875 0420412567
Lingtao Zheng 02 9209 4882 0478742380
Angela Cui (Counsellor) 02 9209 4887 0405736636
Lindy Hsu (Hobart Campus) 1800818900 0411240972
Our Institute’s Counsellor Angela Cui can be contacted via counselling@top.edu.au for any questions or concerns regarding this matter or any other general student concerns. All students are able to setup a meeting with our counsellor directly via our online WEBEX counselling service.
Although NSW Health has advised that the risk of contracting the virus is extremely small without close contact, the Institute still encourages that any students or staff members who have recently returned from China take a voluntary 14-day isolation period before returning to campus.
Any students that feel unwell or concerned about their health, should contact their GP or a Health Professional. Please call ahead and explain your symptms and recent travel history, rather than attending in person. Common symptoms include:
- fever,
- diaphoresis,
- chills,
- cough,
- sore throat,
- nausea/vomiting and
- shortness of breath/breathing difficulties
Please rest assure any student who is affected by this situation in any way, will receive digitalised academic learning and support with no penalties applied.
All subjects will be offered online via Zoom, and this will be an additional learning support provided to students who are in an isolation period or feel unwell can attend classes via Moodle Zoom classroom. Please check each unit Moodle announcement. Please do not take any risks and attend classes on campus if you do not feel well. We will ensure your study progress will not be affected.
An online system will be provided to all students who wish to enrol in courses for S1, 2020. We encourage our students to utilise this online service for selecting and enrolling in subjects. We would also like to encourage students to engage with our Online Orientation program to get familiar with the campus and the services available during your isolation period. This program is available through your Moodle page.
Students can send emails with any questions to:
as@top.edu.au for Sydney Campus
as.tas@top.edu.au for Hobart Campus, and
itsupport@top.edu.au for technical support
We will continue to monitor this situation closely and ensure our students and staff’s safety is maintained. We ask that all students be mindful and exercise the following precautions during this critical period:
- Remember to frequently clean your hands by using alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water
- When coughing and/or sneezing, cover your mouth and nose with flexed elbow or tissue – throw tissue away immediately and wash hands
- Avoid close contact with anyone who has fever and cough
- If you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical care early and share previous travel history with your health care provider
For more information about simple personal hygiene practices to reduce exposure to illness visit:
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public
NSW Health is updating information regularly via its website:
https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/diseases/Pages/coronavirus.aspx
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade also has advice for travellers, including those returning from a destination with reported cases:
https://www.smartraveller.gov.au/news-and-updates/novel-coronavirus-outbreak
Our thoughts are with our students and staff with friends and family.
The Institute will continue to update students and staff as new information becomes available.
Thank you for your attention.
Minshen Zhu
Principal