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INFO - Second confinement

16-12-2020

Following the announcement of a second confinement by the French Authorities, new measures will be put in place at the ESRF from Friday 30 October 2020.

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In the interest of transparency, we are publishing the ESRF Director General’s internal advice to staff related to the second confinement period, send out on 30 October and updated on 3 November 2020.
 
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The French Authorities have decided to implement a new nationwide confinement period from Friday 30 October 2020 until 1 December 2020, to face the present COVID-19 pandemic.

The ESRF, during this second confinement period, will not close; its programme will be implemented at a reduced level, continuing to ensure the protection and safety of ESRF staff and visitors and reducing the presence of people on site.

The ESRF site will be maintained operational with the objective to limit disruption in the accelerator, beamlines construction and refurbishment, and user programmes, and to maintain ongoing activities related to COVID-19 research.

Therefore, during this new confinement period, and in agreement with my fellow Directors, the following measures will be put in place from Friday 30 October 2020:

  • The planning of the week during the confinement period has been reviewed as follow: User Service Mode (USM) on public and CRG beamlines on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; Beamline Dedicated Time (BDT) on Tuesday and Saturday; Machine Dedicated Time (MDT) on Sunday and Monday. External users will not be allowed on site and all experiments will be carried out by remote access. The scheduling of these activities will be agreed to on a weekly basis by the concerned ESRF Directors.
  • Ongoing construction and refurbishment activities will continue at a level consistent with the reduced presence of staff and external contractors on site.
  • ESRF facilities and support labs will be kept operational at the level required to support USM, the accelerator programme, and the implementation of ongoing construction and refurbishment projects.
  • Teleworking will be maximised whenever possible. The Directors and Heads of Division will manage its scheduling according to present practices. Colleagues teleworking should register in the Absences system under «professional mission», mentioning in the justification box that they are teleworking. Colleagues wishing to contact them should consult the e-Calendar and assume that people under “professional mission” are teleworking.
  • ESRF and CRG staff on site are reminded to respect strictly the COVID-19 protective and sanitary measures in place:(http://intranet.esrf.fr/home/news/content/news/reinforcement-of-covid-19-protective-measures.html). Social gatherings should be avoided in all cases. It is also reminded that, in the case of COVID-19 symptoms, or in the case of suspicion of having been exposed to the COVID-19 virus, colleagues must contact their family doctor or the Works Doctor (by email: debois@ill.fr) to be advised.
  • Staff members coming on site will require a certificate available through the following application: http://intranet.esrf.fr/AttestationConfinement
  • Once on site, people must register using the web application accessible via the intranet home page. This registration is compulsory in order to monitor the presence of people on site for safety reasons. As previously, this form has to be validated before leaving, by logging in again and by clicking on the green button "To validate before leaving".
  • The restaurant, sandwich corner and stores will remain open until further notice.
  • A reduced number of rooms in the Guest House will be available for internal use by ESRF and CRG staff.
  • Professional travel is suspended until further notice. Exceptional cases will be authorised on a case-by-case basis. 
  • External visits should be limited to a strict minimum and will be authorised on a case-by-case basis.
  • All meetings, internally and externally, should be carried out by video conference whenever possible.
  • Staff are invited to use the application « TousAntiCovid », as recommended by the French Authorities.

You are invited to contact your supervisor for any question or clarification and to remain in contact with her/him, as well as with your colleagues, during this new confinement period.

We count on your sense of responsibility and wish to recall the importance of continuing to make every effort to observe the preventive measures when on the ESRF site and to follow the French official recommendations to limit the spread of the virus. The engagement and effort of us all are key to overcome collectively these difficult times.

Thank you, and stay safe!