How to handle symptoms and infection among employees

Does an employee have symptoms of Covid-19, or has an employee tested positive for Covid-19?

Employees with symptoms of COVID-19 must stay home until they are well even if their symptoms are mild. If an employee begins feeling symptoms at work on campus, the employee must go home as soon as possible.
If an employee tests positively from an antigen test (rapid test/self-test), the employee must go into self-isolation and get a follow-up PCR taken as soon as possible to confirm the results of the rapid test.
Employees are encouraged to immediately inform their immediate supervisor of a positive PCR test so that any close contacts at AU can be informed as well. Your manager will help you clarify which colleagues and students you have been in contact with.

Contact tracing and information

When someone is infected with the Covid-19 virus (positive result from a PCR test), preventive measures must be taken quickly and effectively in collaboration with government agencies and institutions to prevent the spread of infection. This includes identification of the people an infected person has been in close contact with. In general, this will include people the infected person lives with, some colleagues at work and possibly friends and family. Contact tracing and prevention are coordinated by the Danish Patient Safety Authority in collaboration with the affected person/employee and the workplace/AU. AU encourages everyone to download the national contact tracing app ’smitte|stop’.

In connection with contact tracing, AU’s role is to assist both infected employees and the Danish Patient Safety Authority in determining whether there are colleagues and students who are close contacts.

See the Danish health authority 's definition of close contacts (p. 7 in the pamphlet).

In relation to their employees, MANAGERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR

help identify the colleagues and students an infected employee has been in close contact with at the university, together with the employee and the Danish Patient Safety Authority
immediately notify the colleagues and students who have been in contact with the employee who is infected with the COVID-19 virus. Managers must inform close contacts of the following:
- that someone they have been in contact with is infected with the COVID-19 virus (without revealing the identity of the infected employee)
- that they should self-isolate and have a Covid-19 test (PCR) performed
- that they should be particularly vigilant about any possible symptoms
- that they should be even more careful about adhering to the general guidelines on good hygiene
- that they should consult the Danish Health Authority’s material for close contacts (in Danish)

that thorough cleaning of the infected employee’s work station and surrounding areas will be performed without delay.
to notify their head of department/school/administrative centre/administrative division, who should then inform the dean/university director about the situation as quickly as possible
to inform Lea Sofie Staunsager, administrative officer at the Rector's Office, lss@au.dk, and Sys Christina Vestergaard, head of press and communication, scv@au.dk, about the case of infection. Please specify at which department/school/administrative unit the case of infection has occurred and whether colleagues/students are characterised at ‘close contacts’. It must not be possible to link the information about the infected person to a specific individual, and if there are less than 10 people in the unit, the name of the unit should not be specified.
notify other relevant colleagues (who are not close contacts) that “an employee is on sick leave or has been sent home due to (the risk of) COVID-19, colleagues who are at risk of infection have been notified, and the workstation has been cleaned”. As a matter of principle, the specific health conditions of specific employees should not be named (pursuant to GDPR rules).

Revised 23.04.2021 -

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