In its latest Covid update to staff and students today, the university said it received specific advice from the Ministry of Health which says students are able to travel to campus under Alert Level 3 as they are relocating or returning to a place of residence.
Parents or caregivers of students are not allowed to travel outside of Auckland until the Alert Level changes to 2 or 1, the update said.
A university spokeswoman said about 650 first-year students from Auckland were expected at Otago this year.
Any students arriving to its residential colleges would be required to fill out a questionnaire about their health, to help the university screen for Covid-19.
If any students were showing symptoms they would be asked to undertake a Covid test and would be required to isolate in their rooms until results are returned.
For students returning from Auckland, who were not living in University residences, the advice to them was to follow Ministry of Health guidelines, she said.
Meanwhile, the university was working with the Otago University Students Association on plans for Orientation week, which is scheduled to begin next Monday.
The association said it was waiting to see what would happen with Alert Levels before making a final decision on Orientation week events.
Parties that were planned for Flo Week over the next three days - Flo Week is "flat orientation" week and features nightly large themed parties at student flats - have been postponed until after alert levels return to Level One.
The university spokeswoman said it was a tough decision for the hosts, but "they made this decision with everyone’s best interests at heart.
The students association said on its Facebook page that the hosts for the Back to School, Trippy Tuesday and Gothic parties planned for Castle St over the next three days were postponed.
It said police would be on Castle St and the surrounding areas and they were there to enforce Level 2 restrictions.
‘‘We all want to have a good time but we’re dealing with a pandemic here - if you break the rules you could face disciplinary action from both the police and
the University under the Code of Conduct, and we don’t want to see that happen for anyone.’’
The university spokeswoman said Campus Watch staff would also be at full strength for both Flo and O-weeks, as per standard practice.
It is standard practice for Campus Watch staffing to be at full strength for Flo and O-Weeks.
The University was reminding students and staff about the requirements of Alert Level 2 which includes limiting gatherings to less than 100 people.
