Welcome to the Research Insider Weekly COVID-19 Safety Update. This update will offer easy access to campus resources for the SOM. The buttons below are clickable and link to important procedural information; they will remain on this message each week for your reference. In addition, this message will feature updated safety news for the week. These weekly safety updates will be archived on the Important Phase 2 Research Ramp-Up Information webpage.
1. If you or a visitor to your unit on the SOM campus is confirmed or suspected to have COVID-19:
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2. For Information on COVID-19 Safety Policies and How to Report a Safety Concern:
3. For General Information on Safety Issues or Procedures:
New This Week: Short-Term Visitors & Working Well Policy
Below is the current SOM COVID-19 safety policy for short-term visits from outside personnel, such as vendors, to research space on the SOM Irvine campus (for equipment setup, demos, etc.). Visits should be replaced with online meetings wherever possible (e.g., for demos that can occur via Zoom). If a lab visit is absolutely required to ensure efficient continuation of research, follow the procedures below. Please note that as the COVID-19 situation evolves, visitor policies may change and updates will be made available in Research Insider.
The visitors should:
- Email the PI as soon as possible ahead of their visit with an attestation that they have taken a COVID-19 safety course or have read and signed off on COVID-19 safety policies organized by their employer. If they have NOT done this, you will need to get them access to a safety course similar to the one our employees take via the UCLC or provide baseline COVID-19 safety guidelines such as those found here: https://uci.edu/coronavirus/preventative-measures/index.php
- Email the PI on each day they are visiting, prior to arriving on campus, with answers to the set of questions* below. The PI should keep their responses on file. If the answer is YES to any of these questions, the visitor should postpone their visit until they have the all-clear.
The PI should:
- Prepare a plan that ensures physical distancing and appropriate PPE access and usage, based on the location and personnel involved. Visitor plans must be at least as stringent as those described in the Non-UCI Affiliates/Vendor Guidance. LIMIT INTERACTION WITH UCI PERSONNEL AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE AND BE CONSERVATIVE. Send Geoff Abbott the plan ahead of time for his review and sign-off.
- Ensure (or have someone in your lab ensure) the visitor complies with the plan, log them into your spreadsheet and calendaring system so we have a record of when/where they were here, and have someone check their temperature each day when they arrive (using infrared thermometer – let Jeff Dillon know if you didn’t get one) and log that value as well.
- If a suspected exposure occurs, follow the steps on this website: https://hr.uci.edu/disaster-relief/report-known-cases.php and email Geoff Abbott immediately. In addition, close off the suspected infected room(s) to protect staff and so we can get the area deep-cleaned.
*Is the answer to any of the questions below YES?
1. Are you currently experiencing any of the following symptoms? If you have chronic conditions (e.g. migraines) and are experiencing symptoms identical to your usual symptoms, do not report those here.
- Fever (99F+)
- Chills
- Muscle aches
- Cough (new)
- Shortness of breath (new)
- Unexpected fatigue
- Sore throat
- Loss of taste or smell
- Headache
- Diarrhea, vomiting, or nausea
- Other cold symptoms
2. Have you been tested for COVID-19 using a nasal, oral or nasopharyngeal swab in the past 14 days?
3. Within the past 14 days has anyone you live with had a positive COVID-19 test using a nasal, oral, or nasopharyngeal swab (excluding any contact previously reported in this symptom screening program)?
4. Have you been within 6 feet of a COVID-19 infected person for at least 15 minutes within the last 14 days?
Please answer NO or YES in response to the questions above. If YES, you should not visit the campus.
SOM Working Well Daily Symptom Check
On Aug. 24, the Office of the Associate Chancellor sent a campuswide email titled "Daily Symptom Check Screening Now Mandatory for All Employees." Please note the following special information for SOM on-site employees in Irvine:
Please continue to send the names and UCInetIDs of your on-site, Irvine employees to Rachel Corell at rcorell@hs.uci.edu to upload to the Working Well Daily Symptom Check. There has been no change to the previous process; SOM will continue to manually upload employees to the 7-days-per-week symptom check. This includes anyone (faculty, staff, students, postdocs, etc.) who will be working for any amount of time (part-time or full-time) at a UCI-controlled location, excluding the clinical sites already covered by current on-site UCI Health checks. These locations include the UCI campus, Research Park, and Centerpointe.
Additional information about Working Well monitoring for SOM laboratories can be found here, and additional information about the Working Well Daily Symptom Check, including options to dial-in or use the app, can be found here.
Helpful Links:
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Geoff Abbott
Vice Dean, Basic Research | Senior Associate Dean, Academic Personnel
UCI School of Medicine
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