The JINR Operational Headquarters for preventing the spread of coronavirus infection hereinafter informs you about the current situation with the incidence of COVID-19 and changes in work of the Institute.

The Operational Headquarters informs that the number of JINR employees suffering from COVID-19 has been significantly increasing over the last two months. The total number of infected employees since the beginning of the year is already approaching 200, and this number has almost doubled over November only. The city suffers even more from the disease: specialized medical institutions are overloaded, doctors and ambulance crews receive hundreds of calls daily, and about a half of doctors, who are at high risk, undergo COVID-19 nowadays. As a result, waiting for doctors and ambulances takes numerous hours, and only patients in grave conditions may be hospitalized.

Such a tendency poses a serious threat to the health of our employees and their family members, as well as to the operation of the Institute, including continuously operating divisions. Due to this reason, the JINR Directorate made decisions (order No. 700 of 03.12.20) on changes in the working conditions of numerous staff members for the period from 07.12.20 to 31.01.20. In particular:

• all JINR employees are transferred to the remote working regime, except for the staff members engaged into continuous technological processes, the performance of research as well as repair and installation activities at basic facilities, employees working shifts and (or) with a cumulative accounting of working hours, employees performing accounting and payment of salaries, priority purchases and payments, as well as other functions for the Institute’s operation;
• the presence at workplaces of employees performing accounting and payment of salaries, priority purchases and payments, as well as other functions for the Institute’s operation should be minimized by decreasing working hours (part-time mode) or organization of flexible schedule (including according to the schedule of presence at the workplace).

Starting from 07.12.20, access to the territory of the Institute’s divisions will be open only to employees allowed working at workplaces and, if necessary, to employees working remotely. From the date specified above, access to the DLNP and VBLHEP technical sites will be available only with official certificates and due to the lists of authorized employees. The checkpoints of the DLNP and VBLHEP sites as well as Administration buildings will be equipped with thermal cameras in order to identify people with high temperature.

Previously adopted Order No. 693 of 30.11.20 limited holding of any public events with the full-time presence of employees (including festive, solemn, commemorative events), except for some categories of meetings. In this regard, all Christmas and new year events have been cancelled.

Heads of the Institute and the Operational Headquarters take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of employees. For this purpose, they are in constant contact with medical institutions of the city and the Moscow region.

The Institute purchased and provided to Medical Unit No.9 several dozens of oximeters (devices for determining the oxygen content in the blood). The devices will be passed to duty and district doctors, as well as the Institute’s divisions. JINR and Medical Unit No.9 have reached the agreement to send the most severe patients to specialized clinics of the FMBA.

The Institute and Medical Unit No.9 have signed an agreement on carrying out more than 20 thousand tests for COVID-19 and antibodies to it for our employees and their family members. All JINR employees isolated at home because of medical indications can be visited by medical workers of the Unit to take a PCR test. An agreement has been reached to start vaccinating against COVID-19 next week. However, especially in the first months, the number of allocated vaccine doses for JINR will be very limited, and its use will have a lot of restrictions on the age and health state of vaccinated people.

Due to the decrease in temperature and the beginning of seasonal flu rise, Medical Unit No.9 has purchased and started mass vaccination against influenza (there are Russian and foreign vaccines available). In this regard, the Operational Headquarters strongly recommends employees to get vaccinated against flu in case of having no medical exemptions, as far as COVID-19 and flu have similar symptoms, so it may cause difficulties in treatment.

Taking all this into account, we ask you to follow the recommendations below to save your life and lives of your relatives:

1. Limit visits to public places and contacts with persons you do not live with, refrain from using public transport as well as trips to other cities, including during the new year holidays. We strongly recommend refraining from trips to the neighbouring Tver region where the epidemiological situation is even worse.
2. Use personal respiratory protection equipment (masks, respirators) when being at work or in public places.
3. In case of having SARS symptoms or a temperature higher than 37ºС, the patient and his family members should stay at home and not go to work, as well as restrict visits to public places and in-person communication with other people.
4. If doctors suspect or confirm COVID-19, a patient should follow all the instructions given by the attending physician and the sanitary authorities. In case of long-term waiting for a doctor’s visit for the PCR test, you can address to COVID-19 controllers of your division to inform the Headquarters of any problems.

For any other inquiries about COVID-19 related to testing, registration of disability certificates, etc., you can ask COVID-19 controllers of your division.

Head of the JINR Operation Headquarters,
Assistant Director G. D. Shirkov