[24th MARCH] Statement on COVID-19 Case Detected on Asia-Pacific Campus

On 21 March 2020, ESSEC Asia-Pacific was informed that one of its invigilators had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. This person was last on campus on 18 March 2020, and is currently isolated in a hospital in Singapore. 

Immediately following confirmation of the case, ESSEC Asia-Pacific stepped up precautionary measures to protect its students, faculty and staff to prevent the spread of COVID-19.The school successfully completed the disinfection and sanitization process on 21 March 2020 by an an agency familiar with the campus and listed by the National Environment Agency (NEA) as a specialist company able to carry out disinfection. The campus reopened on 23 March 2020. 

We are closely coordinating with Ministry of Health (MOH) officials in contact tracing and will take next steps as directed by MOH and other relevant agencies. Our students, faculty, and staff have all been asked to fully collaborate with the Singaporean authorities for contact tracing. The school has already issued a 14-day Leave of Absence (LOA) for students, professors and staff who had come into contact with the invigilator. 

These measures are in addition to earlier campus-wide precautionary measures that were already in place, such as temperature taking and suspension of all campus external group activities and large events until further notice. Starting from 23 March 2020, the campus has arranged for its staff to be on split teams as part of increased social distancing measures.

The school continues to regularly communicate and spread awareness to all students, staff, faculty and contractors to continue practising good personal hygiene. This includes washing hands frequently with soap, wearing a surgical mask if they have a cough or runny nose to prevent infecting others, seeing a doctor if they are unwell and returning to school only when fully recovered.  

ESSEC is taking all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of our whole community and cooperating with the relevant authorities to manage this situation.

Aarti Ramaswami - Deputy Dean
Bertrand Sulpice - Managing Director

For further official information, you can check out the following: 

• Singapore Ministry of Health page on COVID-19:
  https://www.moh.gov.sg/covid-19