Tuesday, March 17: AUP Update on Covid-19

THIS POST IS A REPUBLISHED VERSION OF AN EMAIL COMMUNICATION SENT BY AUP PRESIDENT CELESTE M. SCHENCK ON MARCH 17, 2020, ABOUT COVID-19 AND AUP'S RESPONSE. IT IS PART OF OUR SAFETY & SECURITY BLOG THAT ROUNDS UP ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND UPDATES FOR OUR COMMUNITY.

Please know that we are continuing to support the needs of all AUP students, now around the globe, as we prepare to launch our remote learning platform tomorrow. Much of the information in this email (except for some in the Health section) applies mainly to AUP students in Paris.  In a day or so, as soon as our lists stabilize, we’ll move to two sets of communications geared to whether you are here or there, in whichever of 106 other countries you reside. 

Following President Macron’s announcement last night, the government has shared further directives regarding the confinement imposed throughout France and for the next 15 days, renewable. I know that this is a challenging moment for all of us, but the science shows the moment had come to “flatten the curve” of the virus’ progression, and the only way to do that is to limit radically human physical interaction during the peak time of the virus’ expansion. We’re in a new phase of the French government’s management of Covid-19, although I’m confident that we can manage this together as a community. Please read closely our instructions below. I hope these paragraphs will answer a lot of your questions.

Confinement

What confinement means is that you must stay in your apartment, with your current roommates if applicable, and that you must keep to an absolute minimum contact with other people. You may leave your house for “essential reasons,” which include trips to get food, to go to a bank or the pharmacy, to get a little exercise or walk a dog, or to seek medical care. Those are the only reasons for which you can leave your apartment. And when you do so, you must download and fill out a form called an attestation de déplacement dérogatoire, which you must have on you at all times. Police are authorized to stop drivers and pedestrians and to ask to see their attestation. There is a fine, beginning at 38 euros, for not having it on you. For those of you who do not have a printer, you can write out the attestation by hand on a blank sheet of paper.   

I also want to remind you that many supermarkets and restaurants still do delivery through a number of applications, or through their own websites, and I encourage you to take advantage of these services as appropriate to limit your movement outside.

Campus, Mail and Bookstore

During the 15 days of confinement, which may be extended, you will not be able to leave your apartment to come to AUP, and, indeed, we have had to suspend access to all campus buildings to students. Your AUP ID cards are temporarily deactivated, as schools have been mandated by the government to shut their doors to students. That means that we will be unable to deliver mail for the next two weeks and for whatever length of time confinement continues. The bookstore will also be closed during this time. If you are still missing books for your classes, you can avail yourself of Amazon (.com or even .fr because the French site delivers English language books very quickly from the US and the UK). You can also ask your professor or a librarian for help.

Travel

Macron also stated that the outer boundaries of the Schengen travel zone – which includes 26 countries – would close starting midday today and for one month. We asked for clarification from the US Consul in Paris, Robert Hannan, about whether US citizens will be allowed to return home; he responded that the French government has not yet made an official statement but has also not opposed letting people leave (if they can get a flight). Some students who had flights today and tomorrow appear to be on track to leave, but airlines are already canceling flights to and from Europe, and it will become increasingly difficult to leave.  We assume that clarification of the French government/EU position will be made in the coming days.  If you have a flight in the next few days, and it’s confirmed, go to the airport attestation in hand and give it a try.   

Health

Though physically closed, the Health Office will continue to assist you in your reimbursement requests and will be able to help you book appointments with doctors. If you need any medical assistance, call International SOS at 01 55 63 36 35 or write to healthaup.edu. The protocol now is to see your médecin traitant who will assess and advise what to do. Most of you are signed up with MSH insurance only; if this is the case, you can upload the claims directly on their website. In order to do so, you can check the second video on this webpage.

For those of you who left France, for all countries outside of France, emergency medical expenses fully and non-urgent medical expenses partly. MSH also covers you in the US, but only for emergencies and only at French rates. The Emergency Medical benefit covers treatment for an unexpected illness or any bodily injury caused by a sudden event. 

If you are covered by Social Security, you will have to send us your original claims by post at:

AUP Health Office
6, rue du Colonel Combes 
75007 Paris 
France

You won’t be able to upload them via the MSH website, unless they are bills for therapists, osteopaths, chiropractors, or contact lenses.

Once again—it can’t be said enough--please wash your hands and practice social distancing.

Paris Mentoring Program

Our mentoring program for students in Paris has begun. Several kind AUP staff members have volunteered for this project and are full of ideas about how to connect online. Please participate in these daily sessions, which will focus on troubleshooting, answering questions, building community and taking your feedback directly to AUP’s Leadership Team.

If you are currently in Paris and you do not have internet at home and a decent laptop to do remote learning, please get in touch with your mentor, who will be able to direct you to the right service immediately. We have solutions for those problems.

Working together, we will figure out how to get through the confinement period, however long it lasts, and face whatever awaits us just after it. I am certain that a community as kind and caring as AUP’s will rise to these new challenges together as a team. Now is the time to reach out to your peers, your colleagues, your mentors and your friends, to make sure your needs, and the needs of your community, are met as fully as possible.