令和3年11月17日
ニューノーマルの定着に向けて
学生の皆さん
10月30日・31日開催の第58回金大祭は,徹底した感染予防対策を講じた上で,一般の方も参加できる対面方式として実施しました。秋晴れの中,多数の方が訪れ,キャンパスには久方ぶりの賑わいが感じられました(※1)。関係者の綿密な計画・対策と参加者の皆さんの協力により,金大祭にかかる新規感染者が確認されることなく終えられたことに感謝します。
本学では,10月15日に活動指針の正課外活動のレベルを「レベル1(警戒・要注意)」に緩和しました。引き続き「レベル1」のまま,学生が自主的に感染しない行動を継続することにより,対面授業とキャンパスライフとの両立をより確固とするよう願っています。
全国の多くの大学と同様に本学も行動の制限と自粛を求めてきましたが,新型コロナウイルスの感染防止への対策が明らかになってきています。本学では全ての構成員の感染拡大防止対策の徹底をベースに平常のリアルな活動の持続を目指します。
学生はそれぞれの学年の後半に入っており,特に最終学年では卒業・修了まで残すところ数か月になりました。コロナ禍という想定外の困難な状況が長く続きましたが,本学では安心安全を確保しながら,できるだけ有意義な学生生活を過ごすことができるよう今後も検討を重ねていきます。
新型コロナウイルス対策について助言する厚生労働省の専門家会合において,10月後半における新規感染者数は,2020年の夏以降で最も低い水準になったとした上で,ワクチン接種が先行している諸外国では接種済みでも感染するブレイクスルー感染,さらに感染の再拡大が起きているとして,対策の緩和の際には注意する必要があるとしています(※2)。
一方,感染の再拡大が起きている国の共通として,マスクの着用が徹底されていないことが挙げられています。新型コロナの感染の多くは飛沫感染で,ウイルスは主に鼻と口から入ります。鼻と口を完全に覆うと,ウイルスは体内に侵入することができません。すなわち,ウイルスの感染対策は2段階の防御が必要と言えます。第1段階はマスク着用によりウイルスの体内への侵入を防ぐこと,そして第2段階はワクチン接種により重症化を抑えることです。
新型コロナウイルスの感染予防対策は,個々人の意識と行動に負うところが大きいのが特徴と言えます。それぞれがマスク着用等の基本的な感染予防対策を自主的に徹底し,対面授業とキャンパスライフとの両立を持続的に可能にして,新しい日常(ニューノーマル)様式を定着させていきましょう。
*1 https://www.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/wp/news/98267
*2 https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/special/coronavirus/advisory-board/detail/detail_47.html
November 17, 2021
Toward the Establishment of the New Normal
~To sustain both face-to-face classes and campus life~
YAMAZAKI Koetsu
President, Kanazawa University
Dear Students,
The 58th Kanazawa University Festival on October 30 and 31 was held in a face-to-face format that was open to the general public, with thorough infection prevention measures. Many people came under the clear autumn sky, and the campus seemed more crowded than it has in a long time (*1). I would like to express my gratitude to all the people involved for careful planning and measures, and to all the participants for their cooperation, which enabled us to finish this university festival without any new cases of infection being confirmed.
On October 15, Kanazawa University lowered its activity guidelines for extracurricular activities to "Level 1 (Warning and Caution).” While remaining at “Level 1”, we hope that we certainly can sustain both face-to-face classes and campus life by continued voluntary actions of students to prevent infection.
Like many other universities in Japan, Kanazawa University has been asking students to restrict and refrain from their activities. However measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 are becoming clearer. We aim to sustain normal, realistic activities based on thorough measures to prevent the spread of infection by all the members.
Students are now in the second half of their academic year, and especially the final year students are only a few months away from graduation. Although the unexpectedly difficult situation of the COVID-19 has lasted for a long time, Kanazawa University will continue to consider ways for students to spend their campus lives as meaningfully as possible while ensuring safety and security.
An expert meeting of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, which advises on countermeasures against COVID-19, stated that the number of new infections in the second half of October was the lowest level since the summer of 2020.
However, in other countries, where vaccination has already been implemented, "breakthrough infection” and furthermore, re-spreading of infection have occurred. We must be very careful to relax the measures (*2). On the other hand, one of the common factors in the countries, where infection has been spreading, is the lack of thorough wearing of masks. Most of the COVID-19 are transmitted by droplet infection, and the virus mainly enters through the nose and mouth. If the nose and mouth are completely covered, the virus cannot enter the body. In other words, two levels of protection are required to prevent virus infection. The first step is to prevent the virus from entering the body by wearing a mask, and the second step is to reduce the severity of the disease by vaccination.
A characteristic of measures to prevent infection by COVID-19 is that they depend largely on the awareness and actions of each individual. Let's all voluntarily take basic infection prevention measures, such as wearing masks, so that we can sustain both face-to-face classes and campus life and establish a new normal.
*1 https://www.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/wp/news/98267 (Japanese only)
*2 https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/special/coronavirus/advisory-board/detail/detail_47.html (Japanese only)