Dear colleagues,
I hope you were all able to get some rest over the summer holidays. The national and international COVID-19 situation is still fragile and, as you can imagine, we need to remain mobilised in the face of the crisis.
The situation may of course change, and our supervisory authorities will let us know. Nevertheless, at this stage, and in line with the measures taken by the Government for the private sector and the announcement made by the Prime Minister on Thursday, the priority must remain the recovery dynamic and the wearing of masks in all enclosed spaces where several people are present becomes compulsory. This means that masks must be worn outside buildings, in corridors, meeting rooms, offices and laboratories where there is more than one person. If necessary, the number of people present must be limited to 6 in the Alboran room, 8 in the Aegean room, 2 in the Aquarium room, 3 in room X106, 3 in room X040 and 4 in room R131.
We are aware that this will not be easy. When your activity allows it, and after contacting the MIO management, teleworking will be authorised according to rules that have yet to be defined depending on your activities and, of course, the instructions of your supervisory authority, taking care to maintain the momentum of ongoing projects and the resumption on site, the link and dialogue within the teams but also between structures and with our partners... Please note that remote working should be favoured as much as possible for vulnerable people. The existing system is being maintained, and the staff concerned should contact their structure's prevention doctor. As was the case in June, you will need to fill in the provisional attendance tables which will be sent to you by HR services.
If one of us has been in contact with a person who has tested positive for Covid-19, we must work remotely until we are contacted by the health authorities, who will decide whether to put the person on quarantine pending a PCR test. If the result of this test is negative, the employee can return to work on site. If it is positive, the health authorities will draw up a list of contact cases with your help. You should inform your regional delegate of the situation so that he or she can help identify contact cases if necessary.
In addition to these general principles, which apply to everyone in France (metropolitan and overseas), additional measures may be decided and taken locally, at the level of the regional delegations, depending on the instructions of the prefectural authorities. Measures relating to travel within France and Europe remain the same as those defined in July. However, in order to limit the spread of the virus and contribute to national efforts in this area, I would ask you to give priority to videoconferencing for meetings, juries, conferences, etc. wherever possible.
For foreign students in our laboratory, we need to be attentive and benevolent about the conditions that can be put in place to welcome them, particularly with reference to what has been said above (teleworking/presential) and to ensure that the procedures for entering France, as defined by Campus France, are properly implemented.
In the case of our representations abroad, specific instructions may be given depending on local health conditions and the measures taken by the countries concerned. IRD representatives on site with embassies remain our focal points for any questions on a specific area. This message is in accordance with IRD instructions and we are awaiting information from other authorities. This information is therefore subject to change.
Yours sincerely
Richard SEMPERE