Research Recovery for Trainees Town Hall Q&A

See Campus Life Services - Transportation for updates to UCSF parking rates and availability, as well as options for contactless payment.

As of May 18, the Grey shuttle, running between the Parnassus and Mission Bay campuses, has resumed. Lime shuttle services will be expanded to connect the 16th and Mission Street BART station with the Parnassus campus. There are plans to further increase shuttle frequency beginning on June 1. Masks are required and occupancy is limited to maintain physical distancing. Get additional information about shuttles.

Yes, using public transportation is permitted for those who feel comfortable using it. BART is increasing service, and UCSF is increasing its shuttle connections to BART.

Find resources for caregivers at Campus Life Services – Family Services. Note that as UCSF employees return to work onsite, they will be eligible for the resources for essential employees. 

UCSF Labs have ventilation systems that utilize 100% outside air (OSA) and high filtration. Offices and support spaces that normally use partially recirculated air are being temporarily adjusted to maximize outside air levels and reduce recirculation. More details are under “Healthy Buildings” at: Campus Life Services - Facilities.

Get details about Campus Life Services - Facilities' response to COVID-19, which includes enhanced cleaning services. Note that gloves should not be worn in hallways, elevators, or offices. Remember to wash your hands frequently and don't touch your face!

When possible, avoid social interactions and high-touch surfaces during building and room entry and exit, elevator rides, movement in stairways, and bathroom breaks. Avoid common areas for lunch or coffee breaks unless you are alone or seated at distant tables; otherwise find an isolated location in lobby areas or outside the building. (Ref: Guidance for Onsite Laboratory Research Activities)

You may or may not be required to display an approved health screening on any given visit to campus. You must enter campus buildings only through designated entrances by swiping your UCSF ID. You do not need to touch the ID reader when you swipe. When you use your UCSF ID, you attest that you:

• Have conducted your daily health screening, using the required tool
• Are entering the facility on essential business and will stay only as long as necessary
• Are adhering to all UCSF protocols posted on the coronavirus.ucsf.edu, including, but not limited to, the physical distancing protocol and face covering guidelines.

(Ref: Campus Access and Protocols)

The UCSF Police Department continues its 24/7 patrols across all campus locations and offers safety escorts.

New students and rotation students may be included in lab plans for re-entry.

Complex experiments and the training of new lab members may require teamwork between two or more lab members. These interactions are allowed when necessary, but should be kept to a minimum. Physical distancing of six feet must be employed whenever possible. (Ref: Guidance for Onsite Laboratory Research Activities)

This directive also applies to labs already performing COVID-19 research or other essential functions. These labs are allowed to continue using previously-approved personnel numbers for ongoing projects; however, these labs may not add more lab members if the resulting total density will exceed that stated above. (Ref: Guidance for Onside Laboratory Research Activities)

All activities that can be done at home should be done at home, even if you have your own office. Lab members should do their notebook updating and other desktop activities when they return home. The overarching goal is to minimize density in UCSF buildings as a whole. 

All animal research activities must occur as detailed in the approved IACUC protocol, and all LARC and IACUC policies and procedures must be followed to ensure appropriate animal welfare. As you prepare to resume or initiate experimental activities, consider levels of staffing and resources needed to adhere to these requirements. If animals cannot be monitored and overseen as detailed in the approved protocol and required for approved lab housing, the associated activities should not resume until appropriate personnel and resources are available. (Ref: Guidance for Onside Laboratory Research Activities)

As the resumption of work begins, we can expect delays in the reactivation of core facilities as they adjust to the new demands, and there are likely to be delays in ramping up some supply lines. Furthermore, these added services will lead to increased population density and physical interactions. The number of support staff should be kept to the minimum wherever possible.  (Ref: Guidance for Onside Laboratory Research Activities)

Compliance checks by Environmental Health and Safety staff and others will be used to identify laboratories where there is inappropriate density or lack of distancing and protective measures. In these cases, faculty will be required to modify staff schedules or take other measures to minimize risk of transmission.

These and any lab-specific safety practices should be discussed in research group meetings; and asking questions and giving feedback should be encouraged. If questions or concerns cannot be resolved within the research group, issues may be reported through any of the following mechanisms: 

• Contact the chair or chief administrative officer of your department or ORU
• Graduate students, contact Associate Dean Liz Silva
• Postdocs, contact Assistant Dean for Postdocs Gabriela Monsalve
• Make an anonymous report to EH&S
• Anonymously report misconduct through the UC Whistleblower Hotline. (See the related policy.)

Increases in infection rates or non-compliance with these guidelines.

Face coverings are mandatory both outside and inside UCSF buildings, except when you are completely alone in a private office, alone in your private vehicle, or while eating physically distant from others. For details, see the UCSF Face Covering Policy. Researchers are encouraged to bring their personal, reusable cloth face coverings from home. Should a personal face covering be unavailable, surgical masks (not N95 respirators) may be used instead.

N95 masks continue to be reserved for front-line health care providers. For those who don't have their own, cloth masks are available at the following pick-up points:

• Medical Sciences Building – security desk
• Mission Hall – security desk
• Mission Center Building – security desk

Ref: coronavirus.ucsf.edu

Gloves and other PPE are available and may be ordered by the lab, as they always have been. Purchases and deliveries have continued through the shelter-in-place. Gloves should not be worn in the hallways, elevators, or offices.  (Ref: Guidance for Onside Laboratory Research Activities)

As of May 21, there are no plans for wide-scale testing of UCSF employees who do not have symptoms or who have not had contact with someone who has tested positive. Plans are in development for testing new and returning students.

No.

If a lab member feels any sign of illness, no matter how mild, they must NOT come to work or perform any work in lab areas. If you begin to feel ill when you are already in the lab, leave immediately and go home or to the location directed by your health care provider.

• Postdocs: COVID-19 testing is available to all UCSF employees – including postdocs – who have symptoms. Call the COVID-19 hotline 415/514-7328.
  (Ref: Guidance for Onsite Laboratory Research Activities)
• Students: Please send a secure message to the Student Health nurse. (Ref: Student Health and Counseling Services, COVID-19 Care Protocols)

• All personnel working at UCSF who test or have tested positive for COVID-19 at an outside facility (e.g. Kaiser, Sutter Health) must self-report the positive test result to UCSF Occupational Health Services. (Ref: Guidance for Employees on the UCSF Coronavirus website)
• Students should send a secure message to the Student Health nurse. (Ref: Student Health and Counseling Services, COVID-19 Care Protocols)
• UCSF will follow testing and tracing processes through UCSF Health, including enhanced cleaning of lab/work spaces that may have been contaminated.