Coronavirus: University of Sydney asks staff to dob in colleagues

Staff at the University of Sydney are being asked to discretely report sick looking students and faculty members in scenes some have compared to George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984.

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As coronavirus figures soar in NSW staff at the University of Sydney are being asked to dob each other in should they show any signs of illness on campus, according to an internal email sent out last week.

A portion of the memo from Vice Chancellor Michael Spence asks that anyone, staff or faculty, who looks “visibly unwell” to be reported to the university’s pandemic response team dubbed the COVID-19 taskforce amid concerns of the virus rapidly spreading.

The email was part of a comprehensive run-down of its response to the outbreak ahead of semester one.

Users on social media, however, have compared the move akin to something out of George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984.

Staff are understood to be concerned by the plan they feel asks them to dob in colleagues to “Big Brother”.

The message sent out by Dr Spence detailed a thorough response to the outbreak which has seen cases spike significantly in Sydney. Picture: Jonathan Ng

In response to the criticism the University has said it is “taking all necessary precautions” to “protect the health of our community”

“We appreciate the understanding and co-operation of our staff and students,” a spokeswoman said. “We all have a role to play to protect the health of everyone at the University, particularly our most vulnerable members.”

In the email, the Vice Chancellor asked that a potentially infected staff member’s name and organisational unit, their normal work location and a brief description of the situation be discretely sent to its designated coronavirus taskforce email address.

The university is implementing a raft of precautions to ensure a safe and healthy start to semester one and is following the advice of NSW Health, including that it remains in contact with other universities to ensure any potential cross-campus transmission is contained.

Thousands of students are preparing for a new semester at the university.

“The health and wellbeing of our staff, students and community remains our highest priority,” the spokeswoman added. “It’s important we continue to take the necessary precautions to protect not just ourselves but the most vulnerable members of our community.

“Early during this outbreak, we established a pandemic response team to monitor and manage the situation on a daily basis. This response team is working hard to ensure that the University can continue to safely operate during these complex times.”

The prestigious university is taking all precautions ahead of the new learning year.

The plans come as universities across the country scramble to implement measures to deal with the potential mass spread of the virus ahead of thousands of students returning to campus for the start of the semester this month.

Sydney’s north-west has emerged as the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak over the past week, with cases spreading from infected persons at Ryde Hospital, a Macquarie Park aged care facility and Epping Boys High School.

On Tuesday morning, eight fresh cases were confirmed, bringing the total number of those with coronavirus in the state to 55.

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