Important guidance for measles health and safety
As you may be aware, Public Health Ontario has reported an increased number of measles cases in Ontario (external link) .
The university will continue to monitor the situation and follow the advice of public health agencies.
Toronto Public Health (TPH) has information on how to recognize symptoms of measles, what you can do if you suspect an exposure and more. While we’ve included some general health and safety tips here, we encourage you to refer to TPH information about measles online (external link) .
4 key health and safety tips for measles prevention
Stay up-to-date with vaccinations
Toronto Public Health advises (external link) that vaccinations are very effective to help prevent the spread of measles.
Measles vaccinations can be provided through general practitioners, and the TMU Medical Centre offers measles vaccinations. Students and employees who would like to discuss vaccine eligibility should book an appointment with one of the Medical Centre physicians through the Student Wellbeing page.
Stay home if you are unwell
It is important that all community members continue to self-monitor for symptoms and not come to campus if they feel unwell.
Practise good hand and respiratory hygiene
Remember that hand and respiratory hygiene is key to our overall health and wellbeing:
- Wash your hands regularly with soap and water for at least 30 seconds — especially before handling food, after touching your face or shaking someone’s hand.
- Cover your mouth with a tissue when sneezing and coughing. Throw the tissue away and then wash your hands immediately.
- If you do not have a tissue, cough into your upper sleeve or elbow.
Consider wearing a mask if you have been ill
The university continues to be a mask-friendly environment. If you have been ill, we encourage you to consider wearing a mask for a brief period upon return to in-person activities.
Flexibility with students
As always, we ask faculty to show flexibility with students who are impacted by illness wherever possible.
Faculty and contract lecturer absenteeism due to illness
If faculty or contract lecturers are experiencing mild symptoms of illness but are well enough, willing and able to teach their course(s), they should discuss this with their Chair/Director and consider temporarily delivering the course remotely/virtually until their conditions improve and they can return to on-campus teaching. The Chair/Director should make the Dean aware of the need to change the mode of delivery.
If a faculty member or contract lecturer cannot attend class due to illness, they should follow normal, pre-pandemic sick leave processes on missing classes, which includes notifying their Chair/Director and students, and may include cancelling and rescheduling the class.
Staff absenteeism
If an employee is experiencing symptoms, regular sick leave provisions should apply. We ask leaders to be flexible with employees.
For more information
We continue to be appreciative of the support of our community in working together to limit the spread of illness on campus. We will continue to provide updates to our community as appropriate.
