Status update of December 4, 2021
 

Dear employees and guests,

As of November 24, the new Infection Protection Act applies the 3G rule at the workplace: All employees must prove that they have been vaccinated, recovered or tested negative before entering the worksite. Since September 16, a 2G option model has also been in place for the whole of Baden-Württemberg for the public and private sectors in several stages. Baden-Württemberg is currently in the so-called alert stage 2. On December 4, new federal restrictions at this particular stage came into force. They brought more restrictions through extended 2G and 2G Plus regulations in the public and private sectors (see further below).

3G regulation at the workplace

As of November 24, only vaccinated, recovered or daily tested persons are allowed to enter the workplace. Groups of people who do not meet the 3G criteria will not have access to the buildings at the Max Planck Campus Tübingen. Compliance with this regulation is checked and documented by the institute management and made available to the authorities upon request.

• Vaccination status is determined by a valid vaccination certificate in digital or paper form.
• An original certificate issued by the family doctor is sufficient for a valid recovery certificate.
• Employees without a valid vaccination certificate (valid vaccines are those released in the EU by Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson&Johnson), will no longer have building access as of November 24. Unblocking of access privileges will occur daily for employees by a negative test result at the new testing center in the Cyberneum; but alternatively, by written proof of a negative antigen test no more than 24 hours old or a PCR test no more than 48 hours old.

Test center in the Cyberneum for employees of the Max Planck Campus Tübingen

• As of Wednesday, November 24, a central testing station has been set up in the Cyberneum for employees at the Max Planck Campus Tübingen. From this date on, employees without a valid vaccination or recovery certificate must either present the written confirmed certificate of a negative antigen or PCR test or perform a self-test under supervision on site every day before starting work.
• As before, we offer vaccinated and recovered employees the opportunity to test themselves twice a week before starting work in the already familiar premises.
• Employees with symptoms of illness are asked not to come to campus or the testing station, but instead to call their physician or Patient Assistance Services at 116117.

Mobile working

• Employees are offered the opportunity to work from home in consultation with their supervisors wherever possible. 

Regulations of the basic, warning and alert stages in Baden-Württemberg

Basic stage

In the basic stage, the 2G option model applies.  Organizers and caterers can decide to admit only vaccinated and recovered persons. In this case, there are no restrictions on the number of persons and guests do not have to wear masks. However, the mask requirement remains for employees of these venues. Under the 2G restriction, public events of up to 25,000 people can be permitted since October 15.
 

Obligations of the warning stage

The warning stage comes into effect when 250 intensive care beds are occupied by Covid 19 patients for two consecutive working days - or when eight out of 100,000 residents have been admitted to a hospital with Corona symptoms within five days. For the unvaccinated, public events, museums, theaters, cinemas or restaurants can then only be visited with a negative PCR test. PCR tests must be paid for by the individual. A rapid antigen test is no longer sufficient.

In addition, contact restrictions are in effect during the warning level for the unvaccinated and those who are not proven to have recovered. A household is allowed to meet with five other people. Couples are considered one household, even if they do not live together. In addition to recovered and vaccinated persons, children and adolescents up to and including age 17 and persons who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons are exempt from the number of persons and PCR testing requirement.

Compulsions of the alert stage (currently active is Alert Stage 2)

The alert level is invoked when there are more than 390 occupied ICU beds for two consecutive business days with Corona patients or when the hospitalization incidence is twelve for five consecutive business days. Then, in addition to the rules from the warning level, the 2G rule also applies in many areas. Anyone who has not been vaccinated or shown to be recovering is then not allowed in there - even with a negative PCR test.

On November 24, the so-called alert level 2 came into force, imposing further restrictions in both the public and private sectors. Alert level 2 is achieved when 450 intensive care beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients or when a seven-day hospitalization incidence of six is met or exceeded. Here, the so-called 2G+ rule applies, according to which vaccinated or recovered individuals must additionally provide evidence of a negative rapid antigen test or PCR test, which in each case must not be older than 24 hours. The rule applies at events such as theater or concert performances, film screenings, city festivals as well as club and sporting events. In addition, local curfew restrictions may be declared in counties with a seven-day incidence value of 500 or more for two consecutive days.

The German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine provides daily updated charts about the current situation on hospitalization and ICU occupation.

Extended 2G and 2G Plus regulations at alarm stage 2

• In cultural and leisure facilities, 2G Plus applies since December 4, i.e. even vaccinated and recovered persons will have to provide evidence of a valid negative antigen or PCR test, not older than 24 hours. In addition to museums, movie theaters and restaurants, this includes public sports venues, such as swimming pools and gyms.
• The 2G Plus rule in restaurants also applies to external guests of corporate cafeterias.
• In the retail sector the 2G regulations apply. However, this does not include basic supply facilities, e.g. supermarkets or drugstores.

Wearing of masks in all shared indoor areas

• Masks must be worn whenever a distance of 1.5 meters cannot be maintained.
• Thus, inside buildings, the existing rules for wearing a mask still apply.
• On campus grounds, masks do not have to be worn outside of buildings.

Regulations for events, gatherings, meetings and conferences

	EVENT FORMAT
	Virtual	"Zero G" model	3G model	2G model	Hybrid
Protective measures	Not applicable	AHA+L Face coverings do not need to be worn at the fixed workstation, if a distance of > 1.5m is guaranteed	AHA+L Face coverings do not need to be worn at the fixed workstation, if a distance of > 1.5m is guaranteed	Face coverings and distancing are not required, if all those in attendance meet the requirements of 2G; regular ventilation recommended	For physically present persons, the requirements in the respective column of this table apply depending on the chosen G model
Duty to provide information about vaccination status	Not applicable	NO	NO	YES For vaccinated or recovered individuals present in person
Obligation to get tested regardless of status	Not applicable	Not applicable	Possible for guests under the house rules	Not applicable
Evidence of status: evidence of vaccination or evidence of recovery or test	Not applicable	NO	YES All guests present must submit evidence of one of the three variants without being requested to do so	YES, ONLY through evidence of vaccination or recovery and must be submitted by all persons present without them being requested to do so
Reviewing the evidence	Not applicable	Not applicable	YES Visual inspection of vaccination certificate, testing certificate or evidence of recovery Test results may only be stored for 14 days	YES Visual inspection of vaccination certificate or evidence of recovery upon entry but data not saved

Notes:

"Zero-G": No evidence required whether vaccinated, recovered or tested
3G: Evidence required of testing, vaccination or recovery
2G: Evidence required of vaccination or recovery
AHA+L: Distancing – hand hygiene – face covering + ventilation

The 2G model may only be operationally necessary at events, gatherings, meetings or conferences, if individuals are also given the option to attend based on a hybrid variant.
This procedure is intended to ensure that virtual attendance does not lead to disadvantages in the employment relationship. At the same time, virtual participation does not mean that individuals do not meet the 2G criteria. Virtual participation may be chosen for a variety of reasons, e.g. to avoid travel, clashes with other meetings etc. There is no requirement to disclose the reasons.
Participation in the 2G model during attendance must be voluntary for MPG employees; this is the main basis to ensure that employees are not forced to provide information about their vaccination status. Reason: For reasons relating to data protection law, employers are notpermitted to ask about their employees' vaccination status.

Hygiene concepts for events with ten or more people

• Hygiene concepts must be submitted for meetings with more than 10 people and should include the following information:
• Meetings should be kept as short as possible and must end by 10:00 p.m., if not earlier.
• No beverages with high alcohol content may be consumed.
• Organizers must ensure that spacing and sanitation rules are followed at all times.
• The appropriate hygiene policy form can be downloaded here and in the sidebar to the right.

Mobile working and business trips

• Tasks that can be handled effectively and efficiently from home should be able to be performed in the home office in consultation with your supervisor.
• Travel to risk areas must remain a well-justified exception.
• The Robert Koch Institute continuously defines COVID-19 risk areas. We ask all employees to consult the RKI service pages before undertaking personal travel abroad or welcoming new employees and guests from abroad to the Tübingen campus.
• Persons entering Germany from risk areas must follow the guidelines issued by the German authorities and the Tübingen Campus. For business trips abroad, clearance must be obtained from the central crisis team of the Max Planck Society: krisenstab@gv.mpg.de.

The Max Planck House and its cafeteria and canteen is open for guests.

Children at the Tübingen Campus are required to wear masks from the age of six. The general regulations of supervision and the requirements of occupational health and safety must be observed.