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27/03/2020 - 11:07

Students at the School of Health Sciences help the Department of Civil Protection in their response to COVID-19

A large group of students at the University of Iceland School of Health Sciences is now helping the Department of Civil Protection contact tracing team and the Chief Epidemiologist by phoning people who should be in quarantine.

The Department of Civil Protection contacted the School of Health Sciences after the dean had offered the School's services to the Directorate of Health. The School then sent an email to students last Monday asking for volunteers. The response was immediate – 50 students volunteered within the first hour and soon almost 130 names had been added to the list. The work is organised by a team in the School office, in partnership with the Department of Civil Protection.

Students are phoning people who have arrived by plane at Keflavík Airport since Friday 20 March, which will amount to a final total of several thousand passengers. These passengers have received an email from the Chief Epidemiologist and an automated SMS, but it is believed that a follow-up phone call is also required. The students will ask the passengers about their health, how they are feeling, and whether they need any guidance on how to behave in quarantine.

The student volunteers will receive detailed training in infection prevention and appropriate behaviour, as well as on how the phone call should be conducted, confidentiality and data protection. Their educational background makes them well suited to this work and they are well prepared to take it on. Assisting the infection tracing team is also an excellent learning opportunity for them. The plan is for phone calls to the first group of passengers in quarantine to be completed no later than Friday 27 March.