Dear colleagues,
Six Bay Area counties and the City of Berkeley announced yesterday that they plan to extend their shelter-in-place orders through May 31. (The previous orders were set to expire May 3.) The counties include Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara.
In alignment with these expected orders, Berkeley Lab will remain in a safe and stable standby status, with the vast majority of our staff successfully teleworking and minimum on-site staffing necessary for essential work and time-critical COVID-19-related research only.
It’s clear that our communities and our region have made significant progress in limiting the spread of the coronavirus and reducing the strain on our healthcare system. Prolonging the shelter-in-place orders recognizes the potential risk of a renewed surge in COVID-19 cases if restrictions were prematurely lifted.
As we begin to plan for a phased resumption of operations in the future, the Lab will follow guidance from the Department of Energy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, state and local public health officers, and the University of California. No timelines have been set, and the Lab will continue to adapt its planning to the developing situation.
Locally, the Bay Area counties have pledged to soon release a set of broad indicators they will use to track progress, conforming with the framework being used by the State of California. Future easing of restrictions requires that each jurisdiction and various sectors continue to rapidly build critical infrastructure and systems to respond to and control the spread of coronavirus infections and to ensure the healthcare system’s ability to meet demand.
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 dedication to Berkeley Lab’s mission as we continue our important work, as much as possible, in these difficult circumstances.
Regards,
Mike Witherell
Lab Director
Michael Brandt
Deputy Lab Director for Operations and Chief Operating Officer
Horst Simon
Deputy Lab Director for Research and Chief Research Officer