CORONAVIRUS

Message from the President and summary of the broad principles in the Institut Pasteur's Progressive Business Resumption Plan

Following on from the President's message and the memo issued on Thursday May 7 about preparations for the implementation of the Progressive Business Resumption Plan (PBRP) on campus from May 11, the PBRP Committee would like to reiterate that the return of Institut Pasteur staff to campus between now and late May must take place as gradually as possible. The Committee would draw your attention to the following additional important information:

1/ Broad principles

Given the current circumstances, and at least until the end of May, the following broad principles should be adopted:

  • Over the next few weeks, no more than 800 people will be allowed onto campus each day. Precise numbers of people on campus will be monitored several times a day, and if this limit is exceeded the quotas allocated to each unit and department will be reviewed.

  • Priority campus access will be given to the following activities: laboratories involved in COVID-19 research, public health activities (especially CNRs, CIBU and Medical Center) and animal facilities. Research activities not related to COVID-19 will continue to run on a reduced basis for the next few weeks. Vulnerable individuals (according to French High Council for Public Health (HCSP) criteria) will not be allowed to return to campus: if necessary they should contact their family physician and then the Occupational Health Department.

  • All staff currently working from home should continue to do so, unless they require lab access. Any occasional visits to campus by Institut Pasteur staff working from home should remain the exception; they must be approved by the staff member's line manager and should be for urgent reasons only. Staff experiencing computer equipment problems that are making it difficult for them to work from home should report these issues to their manager and also to the following address (PRPA-priorite@pasteur.fr).

  • Any requests for maintenance, deliveries and product or animal orders should be kept to a minimum. Since laboratory support services will be running at a reduced level until late May at the earliest, only urgent requests will be dealt with.

 

2/ Protective measures on campus

During this gradual resumption phase, each of you must use all means at your disposal to safeguard your health and safety and the health and safety of others. Each and every individual, as laid down in article L. 4122-1 of the French Labor Code, must, in accordance with the instructions given to them by their employer,... look after their health and safety and the health and safety of other people affected by their actions or failure to act in the workplace.

The Institut Pasteur campus has thus far been relatively unscathed by the outbreak, with very few cases of COVID-19, and we want to maintain this situation.

We therefore remind all Institut Pasteur staff currently working on campus of their obligations as employees to protect themselves and others:

 

  • Mask distribution: new schedule from May 18

-  9 to 10.30am and 2 to 3pm, every day in the modules under the company restaurant, on presentation of your staff badge.

-  Masks will be distributed in boxes of 50 for a period of 2 weeks, which means 4 surgical masks per day: one for their arrival by public transport, one for the morning, one for the afternoon and one to return home in the evening. Masks used on public transport should be disposed of as soon as you arrive on campus. Dedicated bins for this purpose will be placed at the campus entrances.

-  Be careful to lock your masks: in case of theft, we will not be able to replace them.

  • Masks must be worn at all times on campus, given the density of the campus layout, both when moving from one building to another and also inside buildings. The aim of wearing masks is also to safeguard the health of other staff working on campus.

  • Masks will be compulsory in shared offices where it is not possible to allow 4m2 of space for each staff member. They should not be removed when walking around campus

  • Instructions on wearing masks are available on Webcampus via the following link (in French). We would advise you to read them carefully, since surgical masks are only effective if they are put on and taken off in the correct way.

  • Masks do not remove the need for other hygiene measures: washing hands with water and soap or hand sanitizer, keeping a distance of at least 1.5m from colleagues, not shaking hands, not kissing or hugging, always sneezing into your elbow, etc.

  • If you develop symptoms or are infected with COVID-19, you must report it :

To protect your colleagues, you are legally obliged to inform your employer, via the Occupational Health Department, if you develop symptoms or are infected with COVID-19 and also if you come into close contact with colleagues who have COVID-19 symptoms or infected individuals outside the workplace.

We remind you that you can access the up-to-date COVID-19 information sheet on the Webcampus home page at any time.

3/ Campus access and company restaurant

Campus opening times will be extended as follows to enable staff to adopt staggered working times:

  • Access on foot: from 7am to 9pm (all access points are open except Vaugirard and Falguière).

  • Vehicle access: from 7am to 9pm. Vehicle registration is not required until May 31. You will be asked to present your badge to open the barrier.

  • Please note: until August 31, campus access will remain suspended for retired Institut Pasteur staff and children under the age of 18, as well as external visitors and suppliers, except for equipment maintenance and repair operations as approved by the Technical Department and the scientist in charge.

The company restaurant will not be able to operate in the same way given the many restrictions in place. Its services will be organized as follows:

  • Lunch boxes will be distributed in the canteen, to be eaten in your office. The lunch box will cost €3 for staff (the Institut Pasteur will cover the difference in cost with the supplier);

  • The canteen will reopen on May 18, with two restricted menu options. Opening times will be extended, numbers entering and leaving will be regulated and social distancing will be enforced inside the restaurant.

A regularly updated Q&A is available on Webcampus to answer your questions. Please consult the Q&A before raising any questions. If you cannot find the information you need in the Q&A, please send any questions to your manager, who will contact the PBRP operational unit(cellule-PRPA@pasteur.fr).

We remind you that Webcampus is accessible off campus without the VPN: https://connect.pasteur.fr.

Finally, we would remind you that the current situation and the government measures are subject to change at any time. Given the ongoing uncertainty, we are constantly adapting the Progressive Business Resumption Plan.

Many thanks in advance for your cooperation and your patience with all the teams, which are doing their best at this difficult time.

Kind regards,

The PBRP team

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