If you have Covid-19-like symptoms like e.g. cough, sore throat, rhinitis, fever, loss of smell/taste, diarrhoea, or have been tested positive for Covid-19 please follow the steps indicated in the workflow.

Please note:

For all employees working in the CECAD Research Center - independent of their affiliation …

• The person management/infection control center of the University Hospital is responsible to treat a suspect or positive case of Covid-19
• You can get tested by the infection control center of the University Hospital (Haus 16), see Corona Webtool

If you are not sure if you are infected

• We recommend to get tested at Haus 16 - results are in general provided within one day!
• Please do not come to work till you received the negative test result and keep your superior updated. 

Regulations for returning travellers in accordance with the current Corona Entry Regulation

(as at February 12, 2021)

• Employees returning from a correspondingly classified risk area (i.e. areas with a particularly high risk of infection due to widespread occurrence of certain SARS-CoV-2 virus variants (so-called virus variant areas) MUST report to the contact person management before starting work.
  Please note: Resumption of work may only take place in accordance with the contact person management. Please keep also your superior informed!
  KPM hotline 0221 478-81315, Mon-Fri. 9 am - 4 pm, Sat. 10 am - 1 pm,
  alternatively: email to kpm-covid19[at]uk-koeln.de
• There are currently no restrictions relevant to the University Hospital of Cologne for local hotspots within the Federal Republic of Germany.
• Decisive is the list of risk areas valid at the time of travel return, which is updated daily by the RKI. Therefore, please keep yourself closely informed about current developments during your stay abroad, but at the latest immediately after your return.

(As at January 22, 2021):

• Meetings in presence are not allowed until further notice.
• No more social gatherings within CECAD, not for lunch not for dinner not for coffee
• Only one person at the time allowed to eat in social rooms or kitchens! One can also take lunch in free offices one person at the time
• Breaks meetings with more people in social rooms are not allowed!

We are aware that this is a strict rule. However, all breakouts within the campus occurred due to lunch/coffee breaks where people took of their masks and distances were not kept. In case of more than one person infected, the lab will be closed immediately, and if spread to other labs the CECAD center will be closed.  We therefore appeal to your support to support these measures as they keep CECAD a safe place to work, and also prevent spreading the virus to family members of CECAD employees that are at risk with potential severe consequences.

Importantly, people who ignore this rule will no longer be allowed to enter CECAD!

• External visitors are not allowed with the following exceptions:

- Safety measures in the CECAD building (organized by medfacilities)

- Technical repairs in the facilities or labs (organized individually)

- Job interviews

- Master students (for their lab working period)

- Guest scientists (if they work at CECAD for a limited time period)

• Max. 2 external visitors are allowed at the same time.
• Please make also sure to collect all dates when guests are in the CECAD building.
  Use the meetings/visitors sheet available here

For all other visitors, permission must be granted by CECAD Leadership. Please send request to sgrandel[at]uni-koeln.de

Procedure

1. Please inform the entrance at least 2-3 days in advance
2. In Advance if applicable: Book room through the CECAD booking system and inform Office (mail to maria.vilgertshofer[at]uk-koeln.de)
3. Pick up the visitor(s) at the CECAD entrance and walk him/her out when work/meeting is finished
4. Use the “meeting/visitors’ sheet” to document visit and leave a copy for the Central Office c/o Maria Vilgertshofer at the entrance or CECAD’s letter box (outside of the building, left side of the main entrance). This meeting information sheet is available here
5. Safety and hygiene rules have to be strictly followed!

(As at February 15, 2021):

Reminder! - All persons active at CECAD are obliged to observe the general hygiene rules

• If you have any sign of acold, fever, chills, cough, running nose, headache, flu-like symptoms you need to stay at home and inform your PI/lab-head
• Wear a medical mask at all times when on the UKK campus and in UKK buildings. Please NOTE: In contrast to specifications for the university campus - hand-made/cloth face masks are not allowed anymore within the CECAD building or on the campus of the University Hospital!
• Please keep always a minimum distance of at least 1.5 m to other people
• All rooms must be ventilated regularly and sufficiently by the users
• Please reduce your presence at CECAD to the absolutely necessary. People are only allowed to come to the CECAD Research Center for necessary and essential lab work!

Working at CECAD in offices, workshops and labs

Rules for number of people per room:

• Laboratory space: From January 28, 2021 on, such rooms can only be used by more than one person if an area of 10 m² per person is provided. Deviations from the 10 m² rule are permissible if the same level of safety is ensured in another way (e.g. airing, partitioning walls, wearing FFP2 masks). This must be documented and verified for each individual case.
• In office space/writing areas, an area of at least 12.5 m² must be available for each person. In addition, the minimum distance must be guaranteed. If the room is permanently used by more than one person, the distance between work desks/places should be greater than the minimum distance
   
• Document contact data when using rooms at the same time
• Document your working time at CECAD using the different systems established by the individual labs
• Please do air offices regularly by opening windows

We recommend that each floor installs a general hygiene plan that guarantees that in common rooms (cell culture, -80 rooms etc.) distance and number of people present are according to the above rules.

Please document contacts when you share common rooms!

Always wear medical masks provided by the groups

(surgical masks are sufficient if all people do wear masks, if distance between people is less than 1,5m or if on the rare occasion a person cannot wear a mask, the other person should wear an FFP2 mask).

Supplementary Corona Risk Assessment  (as at February 9, 2021)

Regulations apply according to the affiliation of the CECAD working groups. Supplementary Corona risk assessment must be carried out for all workplaces.

Business trips

Regulations and approval of business trips apply according to the affiliation of the CECAD work groups

Please always check the current state of travel regulations on the website of the University/Medical Faculty, as they may change very fast!

Please note:

• If you are not sure whether you are infected, we recommend to get tested at Haus 16 - results are usually provided within one day!
• Please do not come to work till you received the test result and keep your superior informed
• Please also find the necessary steps to be taken in this workflow

Dear CECAD members,

On 3 March, the federal and state governments agreed to continue the lockdown until 28 March. As a result of this, measures at the university and CECAD will be continued:

Extension of the Corona Work Protection Ordinance
The Federal Corona Work Protection Ordinance (Coronaarbeitsschutzverordnung) will be extended to 30 April 2021. The University is therefore maintaining its current regulations in this area unchanged. As before, superiors are thus required to allow employees to work from home, provided there are no compelling official reasons to the contrary.  It is still necessary to continue to document the reasons for coming into work (has been done on an institutional level for CECAD).

The existing occupational health and safety regulations, such as contact reduction, the obligation to wear medical masks and keep the distance and the specifications for room use by several persons, also remain valid.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE
All HYGEINE MEASURES APPLY TO EVERYONE REGARDLESS OF YOUR VACCINATION STATUS. People who do not comply to these measures will be refused to enter the CECAD building.

Thank you very much for your continuous support to keep the CECAD Research Center open for work and a safe place to work.

Very best wishes,
Thorsten Hoppe & Carien Niessen
 

Dear CECAD members,

The rules from January 22nd were updated by the university and the university hospital according to the federal Work Protection Regulation, applied since 28.1. -15.3.2021.  
The additional requirements for CECAD PIs/heads and employees are summarized below:
NEW:
Usage of labs, workshops, etc. with several persons
The federal Work Protection Regulation now also applies to laboratories, workshops, etc., as well as to examinations in presence. From now on, such rooms can only be used by more than one person if an area of 10 m2 per person is provided.  
Deviations from the 10 m² rule are permissible if the same level of safety is ensured in another way (e.g. airing, partitioning walls, wearing FFP2 masks). This must be documented and verified for each individual case.  
Please note: For offices and workrooms, the already valid university regulations define that 12.5 m² have to be provided. A minimum distance of 1.5 m is still mandatory.  
Corona risk assessment (GBU) – ONLY valid for groups associated to the natural science faculty In accordance with the requirements of the Work Protection Regulation, the existing risk assessments (GBU) must be updated and the implementation of the Regulation must be documented (§ 2 (1)).

−    PIs/heads associated to the natural science faculty are asked you to do this asap. The department 02.2 - Occupational Safety and Environmental Protection provides a new template of the risk assessment in which the existing aspects have been supplemented by these new points. The template is attached, you can also find it under (https://verwaltung.uni-koeln.de/stabsstelle02.2/content/themenseite_corona_virus/ergaenzende_gefaehrdungsbeur teilung_corona_virus/index_ger.html). Support is provided by department 02.2.
−    Please send the corrected version of your corona risk assessment to: mnf-praesenzarbeit@uni-koeln.de.
−    For further information see also the letter from the rector, which has been attached in the original German version and a translated English version.
−    Please note: We got so far no information from the University Hospital that PIs/Heads associated to the medical faculty are asked to update their corona specific risk assessment. Nevertheless, the rules stated here are also valid for these groups.

PLEASE NOTE:

In contrast to specifications for the university campus - hand-made/cloth face masks are not allowed anymore within the CECAD building or on the campus of the University Hospital!  
The Work Protection Regulation can be viewed at:
www.bmas.de/DE/Service/Gesetze/sars-cov-2- arbeitsschutzverordnung.html.
Thank you very much for your continuous support to keep the CECAD Research Center open for work and a safe place to work. Very best wishes,  
Thorsten Hoppe & Carien Niessen

Dear CECAD members,

Yesterday, the federal and state governments decided on additional nation-wide Corona measures. These new regulations, next to those already in place, will at least be in effect until February 14, 2021.
For our non-native speakers we have summarized the key points below.
We have received first information from the UKK today, how the new rules may further affect working at CECAD. As soon as all other instructions are clear, we will further inform you.

Brief summary of new government rules (selection):

1. Homeoffice: Until March 15, 2021, employers must allow employees to work from home whenever possible.

2. Contacts: it is allowed to meet one person outside of your own household. The federal and state governments ask you to limit all private contacts to the absolute minimum and to stay at home as much as possible. Infection risks can be significantly reduced if the number of households from which further contact persons come is kept as constant and as small as possible ("social bubble").

3. Mouth-nose protection: Only medical masks (i.e. operation-masks, KN95/N95 or FFP2 masks) are allowed in shops and local transport. Cloth masks are now no longer allowed in these common areas!

4. Schools/day care facilities: The restricted operation/closure of day care facilities and schools will be maintained until February 14, 2021.

Implications for CECAD:

Homeoffice/Presence at CECAD

• Please reduce your presence at CECAD to the absolutely necessary, which is mainly for experimental activities. If possible, paperwork and writing should be done at home.
  Please coordinate procedures with your superiors.
• Where presence at CECAD is still required, the known COVID19 health and safety measures must be observed (e.g. reduced occupancy of rooms; wearing medical masks provided by the groups; documentation of contact data when using rooms at the same time).
• To further equalise public transport utilization, flexible working hours should be implemented wherever possible and in consultation with supervisors.
• As a reminder, please make sure your time at CECAD is documented using the different systems established by the individual labs.

Contacts

• Please also note the attached appeal by the Chairman of the Board and Medical Director of the University Hospital. 

Mouth-nose protection

• All employees must wear medical mouth-nose protection inside the CECAD research center, especially if more than one person is in the same room. The mask requirement also applies on the campus outside if a distance of 1.5 m is not maintained.

Schools/day care facilities

• The CECAD management appeals on behalf of the hospital and university management to all PIs/heads etc. to jointly create flexible solutions with their personnel that takes into account the individual circumstances of their employees.
• The University Clinic provided Information on the new regulations on children's sick pay under (https://intranet.uk-koeln.de/aktuelles/detail/show/neue-regelungen-des-kinderkrankentagegeldes-fuer-2021-1/1). We will keep you informed when there is information on this topic from the university side.

Further general information related to the virus is provided under:
https://www.cecad.uni-koeln.de/about/covid-19-measures-at-cecad/
https://intranet.uk-koeln.de/newsblog
https://portal.uni-koeln.de/coronavirus
https://www.land.nrw/corona

Please do not hesitate to contact us in case of questions: cecad-questions[at]uni-koeln.de

Thank you very much for your continuous support to keep the CECAD Research Center a safe place.

Very best wishes,
Thorsten Hoppe & Carien Niessen

Dear CECAD members,

We wish all of you a healthy, happy and successful new year with promising perspectives thanks to the vaccines that are now available! Until we get back to normal we ask for your continued support in keeping CECAD a safe place to work!

Unfortunately, the shutdown situation has not eased at the beginning of the new year.  As you might have already heard from the news, the state-wide shutdown has been extended until January 31st. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia has amended the Corona Protection Regulation and the Corona Entry Regulation. Many measures have already been implemented at the University of Cologne and the University Hospital. Detailed information to the following issues are summarized in the attached document.

• Regulations for returning travellers
• Reduction of internal meetings to minimize contacts
• Closure of university buildings (main building, Wiso) to the public
• Support for parents
• Teaching regulations as of January 11th

Up-to-date versions of the CoronaSchVO and CoronaEinrVO are provided at:
https://www.land.nrw/corona

Further information is provided under:
https://www.cecad.uni-koeln.de/about/covid-19-measures-at-cecad/
https://intranet.uk-koeln.de/newsblog
https://portal.uni-koeln.de/coronavirus

Please do not hesitate to contact us in case of questions under: cecad-questions[at]uni-koeln.de

Thank you very much for your continuous support also in 2021 to keep the CECAD Research Center a safe place.

Very best wishes,
Thorsten Hoppe & Carien Niessen