As you will have heard, COVID is impacting our community once more. At 6pm yesterday our state government declared a state of lockdown for five days. We’re only allowed to go out for essential reasons and masks must be worn at all times outside our homes. The SafeWA app must be used where applicable and social distancing measures must be observed.

What does this mean for us at Murdoch? I have already been working with the University’s Critical Incident Management Team (CIMT) and will continue to do so daily as this situation unfolds. An action plan is in place and we will continue to support you.

Murdoch University’s Perth, Rockingham and Mandurah campuses are closed this week (1 Feb to 5 Feb inclusive). For those of you who have started your study for the year, the University is working to communicate arrangements for you to be able to continue your studies.

The University will share further updates with you through your email, the student portal, Facebook, Instagram, and the University website. Information about what services are available to support you are available on the student portal.

Rest assured, your Guild and University are prepared to get you, the Murdoch community, through this.

While we are all working from home, our vital student assist service will be contactable via email, which will be put below. Alongside this, our foodbank will be operating on an appointment basis organised through student assist. I will be allocating additional funding to the foodbank should the need arise. We will continue to support you, just as we did in 2020.

studentassist@murdochguild.com.au

Although we all hoped we would not have to confront a lockdown again, we knew the risk was there. We have overcome this challenge before, and we will do so again. Together we are a strong community, and I encourage all of you to continue to look after yourselves and each other. Please adhere to government instructions and keep an eye out for announcements from Murdoch so we can continue to keep our community safe and connected.

Here for you,

David Ugrinov

Guild President