Rotterdam students called upon to adhere to Covid rules in new campaign

On Tuesday, a campaign launched in Rotterdam, calling on students to adhere to the measures in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The campaign was designed by student associations, coordinated by the Rotterdam council of associations RKvV, at the request of mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb.

In a letter to students last week, the mayor raised concerns about the daily increase in students with Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus. The city and health service GGD Rotterdam-Rijnmond are concerned about students being reluctant to get tested for the virus and finding it difficult to self-isolate. He called the student associations in the region to work with the GGD on a campaign to encourage their members and other students to do their part in curbing the spread of this virus.

The campaign, called Students against corona, will launch at Rotterdam Central Station at noon on Tuesday, Merel van Lunen of the RKvV said to the Erasmus Magazine. The campaign consists of online videos, in which students talk about their coronavirus experiences and call on their peers to follow the rules. A team will also visit places frequented by students and hand out masks, flyers and bracelets with texts saying they keep 1.5 meters apart.

The campaign was designed by students themselves because "peers have the most influence on each other," Van Lunen said to the university magazine. Limiting the number of infections is also in the students' own best interests, she added. "A lot depends on it. In what form and whether the Eurekaweek can continue and what the coming academic year will look like, to name a few. I really believe we can make a difference now."