University of Rochester researchers are adapting to COVID-19 preventative measures as they reopen their labs and research facilities.
In March, New York state ordered a shutdown of all nonessential activities, allowing limited research to continue on-site. However, research is rebooting across the University as the Finger Lakes region has entered new reopening phases.
How has the University addressed reopening labs and adapted new procedures? John Tarduno, dean of research for Arts, Sciences, & Engineering, says, “We have a rigorous and tiered approval process involving department chairs, program directors, and deans with an eye toward reviewing compliance with training, health monitoring, PPE use, and lab use, designed to allow social distancing in a research setting.”
Some labs, such as the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, have adopted time sharing and staggered shifts among employees back on-site. Other labs have caps on the number of people allowed at a certain time or have calendaring systems to schedule lab time. These efforts ensure research facilities have limited capacity and individuals can more effectively socially distance.
Room setups have been reconfigured, where possible, so workers can stay at least six feet apart. And, PPE beyond just a face mask is required within certain labs to prevent contamination of research surfaces.
Even amidst reopening labs, researchers are encouraged to do as much work remotely as possible. Many researchers have found Zoom meetings to work very effectively. Diane Dalecki, department chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, says, “You can bring experts ‘in’ much more easily to talk with your labs. It is an easy way to share data. And it has been seamless in terms of being able to get people together for lab meetings.”