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IGIB COVID-19 Guidelines and FAQs

Keeping Everyone Safe at IGIB

  • Maintain social distancing, wear masks, wash your hands after contact with high-touch surfaces like doorknobs, and follow all other building guidelines.
  • For lunch, snacks, and coffee breaks, eat/drink alone if indoors. If you wish to eat with others, do so outside, at least six feet apart. 
  • Monitor yourself for symptoms or known/suspected exposures: Required Daily Symptom Screener
  • Get tested weekly at UHS
  • Enable contact tracing notifications
    • Previously piloted by the UC, now launched state-wide by CA Gov. Newsom. This is a great way to ensure that contact tracing is accurate and not dependent on remembering or knowing the names of those who you came into contact with.
    • Learn about the privacy features 
  • Get your flu shot (required to be on campus)
  • If you are traveling, please follow UHS guidelines for quarantining and testing before and after travel

If you believe you have been in contact with someone with COVID-19, or have received a positive test outside of UHS, please inform UHS immediately:

  • Faculty or Staff: (510) 332-7192
    Students: (510) 847-9407
  • Please leave your name, date of birth, and phone number as clearly as possible. You should get a callback within 24 hours.

Building Policies

  • Building Guidelines
    • Building Guidelines Golden Rules
      • Wear a mask at all times for lab work, even if in a room by yourself (e.g., a microscope room) since someone coming in the room after you is relying on it being safe.
      • 6ft or more distancing at all times unless it can't be avoided. At these times, communication should be used to maximize distance, and keep it short
      • No talking while eating lunch indoors. This time without a mask on is considered maximum risk. Ideally, eat outside, this is California!
      • If you don’t need to be in-person, don’t be.  Do computer work at home, and make as many conversations as possible virtual.

FAQs

I heard that someone tested positive in my lab/on my floor/in the building. What should I do?

A person’s health information is private. No one can share someone else’s positive status or provide any identifying information without their express consent. The person who tested positive should work with contact tracers (a UHS provided service) to notify everyone with whom they may have been in contact. This is currently defined by the CDC as being within 6ft of someone for 15 minutes within a 24 hr period.

Enabling CA COVID Notify can help facilitate this process. Only those that fit this category will be contacted, so keep in mind that you may not be aware when contact tracing is actively occurring.  If you were exposed, self isolate and get tested – call the confidential Occupational Health Covid Hotline (510) 332-7192 (faculty/staff) or (510) 847-9407 (students) for help determining exactly when to get tested and/or stop isolating. If you were not exposed, you do not need to self isolate. You should continue doing the general precautions that everyone in the building should follow (see Building Policies and Ways To Keep Eachother Safe While Working At IGIB).

We may send emails to the building if someone shares their positive result with us, but it is not required and we will never share additional identifying information. 

UHS has lots of information on this topic, as well as an Occupational Health Covid Hotline (510) 332-7192 (faculty/staff) and (510) 847-9407 (students). They are working on a dashboard that will allow on campus workers to know where cases have been identified on campus, but it is still in progress.

I’ve been closer than 6 ft, spending a lot of time chatting with a few lab mates — it’s been easy to get comfortable over time and relax the rules! If one of us tests positive, will we be punished for breaking the rules?

Your health information will never be used as the basis of disciplinary action. The most important thing is your health and that of your colleagues. Many of us have gotten comfortable, and that’s normal. It’s important to be honest with yourself, guess conservatively about who you have been exposed to — you will not be punished. Use this as an opportunity to reaffirm the importance of distancing, avoiding unnecessary in-person interaction, and only taking your mask off to eat alone. 

I’m isolating due to an exposure outside of work, but am worried about telling my lab/the building because I don’t want everyone to judge me or am worried about professional consequences.

It’s possible to get covid from the grocery store or in ways you might never fully know. Your positive test or exposure is not an indication of moral failing. We encourage you to be as open as possible, and to be completely honest with a contact tracer who can notify the appropriate people anonymously. We rely on each other doing the right thing in order to keep the building safe, as your health information is private and cannot be shared without your consent. Please call the confidential Occupational Health Covid Hotline (510) 332-7192 (faculty/staff) or (510) 847-9407 (students) for advice and guidance on when it is safe to return to work. 

It is critical that we all refrain from gossip, judgement, or speculation in order to allow our colleagues to feel comfortable taking whatever actions are needed to keep our community safe. PIs and supervisors are reminded to have patience and understanding in these circumstances.

I have just returned from a trip. When can I return to work in IGIB?

Please follow UHS guidelines for keeping the campus community safe following travel. UHS currently gives two options: 1) quarantine for a week after arrival, get a test (swab or saliva) and await a negative result, or 2) quarantine for 14 days. This may change over time, so please consult the UHS website for the latest guidance.

There is a stay at home order, why is Berkeley still doing research at the same level?

UC Berkeley research is considered essential, and can proceed under shelter in place. The VCRO will determine whether we return to phase 2 or 1 based on increases in cases amongst research staff or transmission in the laboratory. Neither of these things has occurred yet. It appears that the policies we have in place (see above) are successfully preventing workplace transmission. Individual labs can decide to return to phase 2 or below based on their own comfort and research needs. Several labs in IGIB never moved to Phase 3 at all.

I’m concerned about the behavior of others in my lab or in the building, who do I contact?

The best way is to talk to them directly if you feel comfortable. Personal appeals have a much greater effect than hearing a complaint after the fact or in a general sense. If you don’t feel comfortable saying something, use this anonymous Google form to let the building committee know your concerns.

I'm worried that my own PI is not understanding my concerns about safety at work, or is pressuring me to do more work then I consider safe. What should I do?

The most effective way is to talk to others in your lab and meet with your PI directly. If you don’t feel comfortable, or already have and your concerns weren’t appropriately addressed, please use this anonymous Google form. You will need to identify what lab you are in, and we understand that in small labs or specific situations it may be hard to remain anonymous. We will try our best to handle situations delicately.

I am still concerned about how the IGIB is operating. Who do I talk to?

John Dueber, Ariana Hirsh, and Brad Ringeisen are all available to hear your concerns, as well as our peer ombudsmen Connor Tsuchida, Noam Prywes, Julia Borden and Nicholas Karavolias. Please contact whichever one of us you feel most comfortable with. You can also contact the Vice Chancellor of Research via email: vcr@berkeley.edu, report a problem anonymously via the EH&S website, or use the campus Improper Governmental Activity (“Whistleblower”) Report.