A quick trip to the bathroom is fine-I assume most people understand that.
Taking laboratory PPE home or to a cafeteria Is different and discouraged. That's the point we are trying to make.
Initially, we give every researcher 50 surgical masks. After use, it is to be disposed of at the end of the day.
Pete
Hi Peter,
What's the rationale behind switching masks in-lab and out-of-lab? Unlike gloves and lab coats, facemasks would seem not to touch common areas like seats and doorknobs. Changing them seems like it would add extra face touches and disposals. If the facemask is contaminated, then it should be changed anyway. I can see not wanting lots of surgical masks walking around outside of labs, but for a quick trip to the bathroom (for example)-?
Thanks for any insight you can offer,
Sue
Colleagues,
I have some news from Yale that you may find of interest.
Yale began Phase I of our research reactivation last week. Please see https://ehs.yale.edu/covid-19 for info for PI and lab staff, some nice fact sheets, and "ramp-up" checklists for both labs and non-labs. Much of this is governed by State rules, so if you see something curious, let me know and I will try to explain.
People who can work from home should continue to work from home. Yale's move to Phase 2 will likely be early July. At Yale, Phase 2 will see the return of non-laboratory faculty to campus.
Face coverings are required on campus and surgical masks are required in labs. See:
Our campus posters are at: https://ypps.yale.edu/returntoyale-signage-download Simple messaging with a common format.
We are offering testing for everyone who is returning: https://covid19.yale.edu/screening. In 8,000 tests so far, we've only found 1 asymptomatic positive. Social distancing DOES flatten the curve!! Still, Connecticut and New Have have recorded 4,038 and 999 COVID deaths, respectively. This is real and awful, and we are planning for the second wave.
We are being strict about the six foot distance rule, but recognize the need to develop an EHS (internal) risk-assessment procedure for people on campus who cannot avoid doing necessary work within six feet of another person. I call this "proximity work." If you've developed such rules, please let me know.
No decision has yet been made about the return of students to campus, but we are planning feverously.
We've developed our own apps for symptom reporting and contact tracing, but these are behind security walls. They look pretty beta to me.
Yale has established COVID Safety Officers in labs and departments, and COVID safety committees at our schools to remind and inform faculty, students and staff to social distance, use face coverings, etc. We've established a campus COVID resource line for questions, and are using our hotline for anonymous complaints. Thankfully, EHS is not the "COVID police" except in egregious situations.
Yale EHS is divided into two teams working separate shifts (environmental staff) or separate weeks (office-resident staff). I think cohorting is important.
Some interesting stuff: Yale continues to receive pallets upon pallets of donated PPE, stored three shelves high in our West Campus warehouse. EHS evaluates the PPE and decides if we can use them on campus, if we should store for the second wave, or if we should forward to our hospital. While most of these donations are helpful, this is a lot of work! About half of the donated PPE is from China, including 33,000 donated KN95s. Why from China? Among U.S. universities, Yale has perhaps the deepest relationship with China and many Chinese alum.. Yale's first medical clinic in China opened in 1835. It's an amazing story: https://world.yale.edu/news/yale-and-china-centuries-old-partnership-0
Re KN95s-we can't fit them either, but they might make suitable surgical masks for lab use, with better filtration. When a French professor or dining hall worker demands an N95, we give them a KN95.
Hope that helps,
Pete
Peter A. Reinhardt (he/him/his)
Director, Office of Environmental Health & Safety
Yale University
135 College St., Suite 100
New Haven, CT 06510-2411
(203) 737-2123
Cell: (209) 410-0444
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