Students with fever or cough should not use university computer stations. These students should immediately contact the Student Health Center or their personal health care provider.

Students should use supplied cleaning products to clean keyboards, mouse, flat surfaces, and chair armrest before and after using computer equipment. The suggested contact time for surface cleaning is at least two minutes.

Following surface cleaning, students should wash their hands with soap and water before sitting at the workstation. An approved alcohol gel of at least 60% alcohol is a less preferred substitute.

As a social distancing measure, computer workstations should be separated by 6 feet to avoid cross-station exposure.

• All researchers should use a personal space distance of six feet between them in all situations including across bench space.
• Face coverings are required in both research and teaching lab environments, in addition to any personal protective equipment (PPE) required for the lab setting (which may include goggles, safety glasses, aprons, gloves, etc.). However, in these lab environments where there is close contact and six feet of physical distance cannot be maintained for an extended period, both a face covering and a face shield are required, in addition to the PPE appropriate for the particular lab.
• In non-bench related research space, maintain physical distance of six feet. On-bench research spaces should be limited to a maximum of 10 people.
  • The number of people in a lab will be impacted strongly by the square footage of the lab so long as the six-foot personal distance limit can be maintained.
• Consider implementing a rotation time for researchers’ access to shared spaces.
• Implement a cleaning of work space surfaces with appropriate cleaners, especially for shared equipment and computers.
• Please ensure that all personnel in your labs carry their ID card.
• Conduct research group meetings by Zoom.
• Check your own health and be proactive. Take your temperature in the morning prior to coming into work.
• All personnel should stay home if they experience any symptoms.

The CDC has issued guidance for higher education institutions to help college and university officials “prevent the spread of COVID-19 among students, staff, and faculty.”

Departments on campus are encouraged to develop business continuity plans to address potential impacts and coping strategies for increased employee absenteeism and cancellation or closure of services and events.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s COVID-19 website provides frequent updates and information for the public.

For information specific to the state of Missouri, visit the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services’ COVID-19 website or call the 24-hour hotline, 877-435-8411.

You may have heard the phrase “social distancing” in relation to COVID-19. According to the CDC, social distancing “means remaining out of congregate settings, avoiding mass gatherings, and maintaining distance (approximately 6 feet or 2 meters) from others when possible.”

Social distancing helps limit the spread of COVID-19, according to Dr. Nipunie Rajapakse, an infectious disease expert at the Mayo Clinic.

“It’s transmitted through respiratory droplets generated when someone infected coughs or sneezes,” she says. “We know that these droplets extend about 3 to 6 feet from the person that generates them. If you breathe in the droplets, or they land on your eyes, nose, or mouth then you are at risk of getting infected.

“This is where the concept of social distancing comes in. If we stay away from someone who is sick, or in general, beyond that 6 foot margin, then the risk of being exposed drops dramatically. That’s why some of these recommendations about canceling large meetings and gatherings where people are in very close contact with each other.”

Our March 2020 decision to switch from classroom and lab settings to online teaching is a social distancing measure. Online instruction increases the distance between people and thereby decreases the chances they are exposed if someone around them is sick. “Social distancing has been shown to be effective in slowing the spread of infection during many outbreaks in the past,” says Dr. Rajapakse.