COVID Reporting Hotline and Email (covidreporting@humber.ca)
(reported by Margaret Fung and Jacqueline Anderson)
To streamline COVID-related reporting, the College plans to have a single phone hotline and/or email address dedicated for information in-take. Once the information is received, student cases would be addressed by Jacqueline Anderson’s (Student Services) team, while employee cases would be addressed by Margaret Fung/Hiren Patel’s (Health & Safety) team. The intricacies of the reporting processes are still being discussed and decided upon by the College.
Ventilation
(reported by Spencer Wood and Daniel Alonzo)
At Humber, the air handlers (on roofs) bring in fresh air that circulates through the building. The filters on the air handlers are MERV-13 (for reference: HEPA filters are MERV-16 to 20). The College uses 2 types of filters – to capture larger bits, as well as finer bits. These filters are changed as per requirement (twice per year). The system cannot use HEPA filters, which are larger and denser in size, as the system would not have enough pressure to push the air through. The air exchange meets building code for Humber’s buildings. For rooms that may require more air exchange, the College is addressing on an individual basis.
The Union raised concerns about rooms that may have been repurposed (such as lecture rooms being renovated to computer labs). The College assured that a full engineering and architectural assessment is done on the room prior to the reno, taking into considering the purpose of the room, # of occupants, and ventilation required.
COVID Watch & Protocols
(reported by Christopher Parkes and Jacqueline Anderson)
The Union raised concerns that faculty want to know responses to specific “what if” scenarios. For example – what if someone in my area gets COVID. What happens to me? Will I be informed? The College responded that the response will be a balance between protecting employee privacy and sharing information for the purpose of health and safety on a need-to-know basis.
The College also re-iterated that in such a case, public health would be involved, and the College would be following the direction of public health. This is one reason why attendance in class has become a requirement (for contact tracing).