Corona virus FAQ

General info

How about the office hours at Finances, Housing or Counselling?
In-person office hours at Finances and Housing are cancelled until further notice. However, you can still reach your contact person via telephone or e-mail. You'll find contact info on our website, on the page of the respective town and department. The counselling centres are still holding in-person office hours. Please check this news for exceptions. If you do not want to or cannot visit the centre, we also offer counselling sessions via phone.

How does the Student Services react in the event of a suspected case?
We have an emergency- and crisis plan. A crisis team communicates regularly and meets immediately when needed. Thanks to close coordination with the responsible authorities and local health authorities, we are able to react in any situation. If a suspected case occurs, there is always a reporting obligation to the health department. In close cooperation with the Student Services, the health department will coordinate further measures such as informing contact persons. If a suspected case is confirmed, the decision about further measures lies with the health department. We also coordinate with our universities.

How do I know which facilities of the Student Services are currently closed?
We'll keep you posted on our corona ticker page and the news area.

What do I do if I have visited facilities and an infection becomes known afterwards?
During the query of contact persons by the local health authority, please let them know about your stay at the respective facility, so that we can initiate all necessary measures. In this case, we will be informed through the health authority, and it isn’t absolutely necessary that you will inform us separately.

How do I behave if I fall ill myself?
In this case, please contact your family doctor. Please also note the information provided by the Robert Koch Institute. We ask you to cancel personal appointments, for example at PBS. You can also do this at short notice and via phone. The risk of infection must be avoided in any case.

Housing

Due to the corona pandemic, there are currently restrictions in regard to travels to Lower Saxony for persons coming or returning from risk areas. The basis for this is the Lower Saxony regulation on quarantine measures for inbound and outbound travellers to contain the corona virus (November 6, 2020):
www.niedersachsen.de/Coronavirus/vergleich-der-landesregierung-185856.html

The Robert Koch Institute publishes which regions are classified as risk areas.
www.rki.de/DE/Content/InfAZ/N/Neuartiges_Coronavirus/Risikogebiete_neu.html

If you have stayed in a risk area at any time within 10 days prior to your entry into Lower Saxony, you must go to your accommodation immediately after entry and isolate yourself there for a period of 10 day. You must also contact the responsible health department immediately. A digital entry registration must be made via the website https://www.einreiseanmeldung.de. The segregation can end on the fifth day after entry at the earliest if your test result is negative. The underlying test must have been carried out at least five days after entering the Federal Republic of Germany. It must meet the requirements of the Robert Koch Institute, which are published on the Internet at https://www.rki.de/covid-19-tests.de.

If you are put into a 10-day segregation and symptoms should occur which indicate a corona virus infection, you will have to contact a doctor or test centre in order to carry out a test. https://www.niedersachsen.de/Coronavirus/was_tun_bei_verdacht/das-sollten-sie-tun-bei-verdacht-auf-eine-corona-infektion-185669.html

Occasionally, there are exceptions to the obligation to segregate, e. g. for commuters, see Section 1 (6) sentence 3 and for people who have stayed in a risk area for up to five days because of their studies, see Section 1 (7) sentence 4.

If you are coming from a risk area and have rented a room in a shared apartment with us, we recommend the following:

Inform the dormitory management and your flatmates if you come from a risk area.
Follow the health department's quarantine rules.
Whenever possible, stay alone in your well-aired room and only use shared rooms (e.g. kitchen, hallway, bathroom) if absolutely necessary.
Use shared rooms (kitchen, hall, bathroom) only by yourself or coordinate with your flatmates, e.g. via electronic means of communication.
Do not share dishes, rags, sponges, towels or the like with other residents.
Clean frequently touches surfaces several times a day.
Avoid contact with other residents.
Do not receive visitors.
In shared rooms, a distance of at least 1.50 metres must be maintained and mouth and nose protection must be worn.
Air the rooms regularly.
Have deliveries placed directly in front of your room.

Hygiene instructions
You can find the most important hygiene instructions here. Please note: You have to to wear a mask in hallways, stairwells and lifts

I live in a dormitory with many other people. How should I conduct myself?
The principal means to slow the spread ar to keep at least two metres away from other people.

In addition to this, the following now applies in the dormitories:

Please mind the hygiene instructions!
You also have to keep a sufficient distance from other people in the living areas.
You have to wear a mask in lifts.

What should I do if I'm infected with the corona virus or suspect that I'm infected?
If you experience symptoms, please call your doctor immediately to clarify how to proceed. It is important that you already indicate on the phone that you may be infected. This way, you help to break the chain of infection. The local health department will then coordinate the furtner proceedings with you. Please also inform the service assistants in the dormitory.

My roommate is infected and quarantined. What does this mean for me?*
Please quarantine yourself, too – this is the only responsible behaviour.

I am a student abroad and wanted to start studying in Germany as of the winter semester 2020. I already have a rental contract with the local STW for a room at a hall of residence. Does my rental contract remain valid? Can I terminate the contract without notice?
Yes, the rental contract remains valid. And no, as a rule, it is not possible to terminate the contract without notice. The contractually agreed periods of notice apply. In this case too, you should immediately contact the hall of residence administration of your Studenten- or Studierendenwerk in order to find a solution for a desired premature termination of the rental contract.

Can I terminate my room without notice or prematurely?
No, the contractually agreed periods of notice apply.

My neighbour has contracted Covid-19. May I lower the rent?
No. A flatmate or neighbour falling ill does not represent any shortcoming regarding the object of rent and thus cannot be a reason to lower the rent.

I gave notice for my one-room apartment at the Studentenwerk for the end of March 2020 and would really have to move out next week. Now I have contracted Covid-19, or I have been put under quarantine. Must I move out?
No. In this situation,we won't demand that you move out of your apartment! Now, too, what applies is what the law of enforcement stipulates, namely that the tenant’s right to physical integrity takes precedence over the owner’s/landlord’s interest to have the apartment vacated. Since all people are called upon to act in solidarity and drastically reduce contacts, the tenant cannot be obliged to move out. This is also in the interest of others.
This also applies if you are living in a flat or a room in a flat shared with others, or if you are a subtenant in private housing market accommodation.

My rental contract with the Studierendenwerk ends soon, since I intended to move out /depart. Owing to the present situation, I am staying at my university location for a a bit longer. However, my room has been let to someone else already. Can I now keep the room after all? Or could I obtain another room in April? Can I move to another hall of residence?
If the room has already been let to someone else, you cannot stay in your room because a legally valid rental contract exists for the room with the new tenant. Please apply anew (online application), and, once receipt of your application has been confirmed, contact the housing department.
Rooms may well still be vacant, since other students have cancelled their applications. However, no one can guarantee that you will be able to move to a different room seamlessly – or possibly a little later.