State of May 11, 2020

Dear employees and guests,

The Federal Government, in consultation with the Minister Presidents of the German federal states, has announced relaxing measures of previously obligatory restrictions. The health of the employees continues to be the top priority in all our considerations. For this reason, the campus crisis unit had drawn up some initial directives for a cautious ramp-up at the institutes at the campus Tübingen and an expansion of on-site operations.

• We ask all employees to work from home whenever possible. Within the institute buildings, the use of a mouth-nose protection is mandatory in all common spaces (including corridors and toilets) and if a minimum safe distance of 1.5 m cannot be maintained. Two reusable fabric masks have been made available to each employee for this purpose.

• We strongly recommend that everyone wears a mask that covers the mouth and nose when outside on our campus. Employees should also be aware that since April 27, everyone has been required by the Baden-Württemberg government to wear simple mouth and nose protection when shopping and when on public transportation.

• All seminars, face-to-face meetings and visits of guests remain canceled.

• Please remember that children are not allowed inside any building on campus.
  
• All employees must observe the following rules for office occupancy and lab occupancy:
  
  
• Only one person may be in a typical office at any time. Further protective measures in rooms for more than two persons must be applied, e.g. working in shifts. Coordinate with your supervisor to plan who will use which office and lab space at what time.
• We recognize that two (or more) people may need to work simultaneously in one laboratory for safety and/ or operational reasons. As with large offices, individuals must stay at least two meters away from each other and wear a mouth-nose protection at all times. Please consult your institute’s contact person at the safety office (Brigitte Walderich, Holger Fischer, Jörg Eisfeld) if you would like to determine whether and how more than one person can safely work together at a distance closer than 1.5 meters in any laboratory, as our laboratories vary greatly.
  
  
• Anyone who has had contact with a possible coronavirus case must stay at home for 14 days from the time of contact and inform their supervisor and their institute's contact person at the safety office (Brigitte Walderich, Holger Fischer, Jörg Eisfeld).
• Current travel and quarantine regulations apply when entering Germany.
• Anyone with coronavirus symptoms similar to those of coronavirus must stay home, inform their supervisor and their institute's contact person at the safety office (Brigitte Walderich, Holger Fischer, Jörg Eisfeld), and call their doctor or an emergency room. Only healthy individuals may come to campus at this time.

• The most common symptoms in COVID-19 cases, as stated by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), are fever as the most common, followed by cough, shortness of breath, muscle and joint pain, sore throat, head ache, nausea, stuffy nose, diarrhea and loss of sense of taste/smell.

• The German Federal Foreign Office extended its worldwide travel warning through June 15, 2020. Thus, international business trips remain impossible at this time. Business trips within Germany should also be avoided whenever possible.

With these measures, we hope that we can protect you as our valuable employees and guests.