As announced by the World Health Organization, WHO, a novel coronavirus, was identified in China at the beginning of January 2020. This new virus was temporarily named “2019-nCoV.” Since the beginning of January, several countries around the world have declared cases of infection with “2019-nCoV”.
Common signs of infection with a coronavirus include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.
WHO has issued advice to people on how to protect themselves and those around them from getting the disease. CERN’s Management invites you to read and follow this advice, which will be updated as the situation and understanding of the virus evolves.
Action in case of suspected infection
If you could have been infected by the “2019-nCoV”, but do not present any acute symptoms, please contact the Geneva University Hospital (HUG) on +41 22 372 81 20.
If you present any of the symptoms associated with the “2019-nCoV”, please call the HUG and inform them of any recent travel and your state of health before going to the hospital in person. In France, the advice is to call 15 and not to go directly to the hospital or your general practitioner.
Travel precautions
CERN will not send any members of the personnel to Hubei, where the virus first broke out, until further notice. Travel to other regions in China should be discussed with and cleared by the Department Head concerned.
For further, more general information regarding travel risks, please consult the links below:
- https://www.who.int/ith/2020-0901_outbreak_of_Pneumonia_caused_by_a_new_coronavirus_in_C/en/
- https://admin-eguide.web.cern.ch/en/assistance-related-duty-travel-provided-international-sos
- http://www.safetravel.ch/safetravel2/servlet/ch.ofac.wv.wv201j.pages.Wv201AccueilCtrl?action=init
Any updates will be published on the HSE news website.
The Medical service