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General Approaches for Mitigating COVID‐19 in All Research Contexts
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Health Screening
Physical Distancing
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Prerequisites for Opening a Building
Health Screening
- All researchers must check into the campus check‐in system prior to coming to campus, and declare their health state and building access plans (what building(s) they will go to and during what time) as part of that check‐in.
- Individuals with symptoms suggestive of COVID‐19 should not come to work/campus.
- Individuals at high risk for adverse outcomes from COVID‐19 (e.g., due to age, comorbid conditions, etc.) should consult their care provider prior to coming to work.
- Health screening (including temperature screening) should be employed in advance of arrival on campus as part of the campus check‐in procedure.
Physical Distancing
- Physical distancing of six feet or greater to be observed at all times (except when closer physical proximity or contact is dictated by required clinical research procedures). CDC guidelines indicate spacing of less than 6 feet for more than 10 minutes constitutes excessive exposure. This requires sequential use of elevators, corridors, bathrooms, and any other public small spaces.
- Common areas should have signage indicating maximum occupancy allowable to maintain distancing rules.
- Entry into and egress from buildings should be done singly and frequency should be limited to maintain distancing.
- Schools/units may consider limiting the number of hours on campus per researcher, to limit space sharing / de‐densify, as well as simplify food and other complex/risky activities.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
- Masks/shields/facial coverings provided by the University must be worn at all times, except when physically isolated in a private space (e.g., closed private office not used by others and not having any visitors).
- Other PPE (gloves, disposable gowns, face shields, shoe covers) may be indicated in situations that increase risk of exposure/transmission in some contexts.
- Daily logging of all prolonged (over 10 minutes) contacts and all common rooms visited for all individuals returning to workplace. (Ideally through a QR code system.)
- Online forms and/or QR codes created for individuals to log all contacts made with individuals within building
- Plan/Protocol for rapid response to illness / outbreak is established and communicated, as well as posted in all research spaces
Prerequisites for Opening a Building
- Tools set up for building access permissions and scheduling
- Occupancy space constraints defined
- On‐line forms created for individual logging
- Policy and protocols communicated to the USC community
- Sufficient availability of PPE
- Buildings prepared (HVAC cleaned, water checked, etc.)