Dear colleagues,
Six Bay Area counties and the City of Berkeley have extended through May 3 their previous shelter-in-place orders for all residents. The counties include Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara.
As with the previous shelter-in-place orders that were to expire April 7, the prolonged shelter-in-place orders allow for people to — with appropriate social distancing — leave their homes for necessary supplies, accessing health care, providing aid to family and friends who need assistance, exercising, and performing essential work. The new orders place additional restrictions on using parks and dog parks, playgrounds, and other recreational facilities.
Berkeley Lab remains in a safe and stable standby status, with the vast majority of our staff teleworking and minimum on-site staffing for essential work only. We are defining “essential work” to be conducted on-site as those activities needed to ensure:
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Safe and secure facilities, systems, and equipment continue to be well maintained
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The ability to respond appropriately to on-site emergencies and situations as needed
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The long-term integrity of research materials
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People’s abilities to effectively telework
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Continued availability of DOE mission-critical systems
I know this change raises new questions. We are beginning to work through what this prolonged shelter in place period means for the Lab. We will continue to update you on the Lab’s status via email, in Elements, at status.lbl.gov, on our COVID-19 website, or on Twitter @LBNLstatus.
Thank you for your continued support of Berkeley Lab’s mission in these unusual circumstances.
Regards,
Mike Witherell
Lab Director
Michael Brant
Deputy Lab Director for Operations and Chief Operating Officer