Disclaimer: the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this blog belong solely to the individual author, and not to LabCentral or the author’s employer, organization or committee.

As an essential business, LabCentral has remained open and operational with drastically reduced numbers on-site the past 60 days and this has prepared us for what’s to come in the next few weeks as Massachusetts begins its phased re-opening.  This crisis has asked all of us to stay abreast of constantly changing information and to react in real-time to build plans for what’s best for our collective good and we appreciate our residents’ feedback and support as we have navigated these turbulent and uncertain times together.

As LabCentral completes the second month of social distancing and quarantine practices, it is imperative –now more than ever– that we maintain the guidelines we’ve become accustomed to, in addition to introducing other fail safes to ensure the safety of our community:

1. Shift work: At LabCentral we will continue to encourage all non-lab personnel to work from home and ask that resident companies only have 50% of their lab teams on-site at any given time. We recommend that our residents divide their teams to make use of a longer workday, operating in shifts in order to ramp up operations while still maintaining a low density in labs and offices.
2. Touchless Thermal Scans: Coming soon to our three sites we will have scanning thermometers to monitor the health of residents and visitors coming into the facility. We will pilot the use of these tools at 700 Main Street, and later at 610 Main Street and the Harvard Life Lab
3. Occupancy Limits in Conference Rooms: Occupancy restrictions are now in place for conference rooms, including posting of occupancy limits and removal of chairs to ensure safer densities for each room. We are also actively decreasing seating density in our other co-working spaces and kitchens.
4. Additional disinfection: Cleaning supplies, such as sprays, wipes, and paper towels, will be added to new locations throughout the building with guidance on appropriate usage.
5. Private labs and offices: Each resident company is responsible for establishing their own protocols within their private space as long as they are in compliance with all city and state mandates such as wearing face coverings at all times, six foot social distancing, and regular hand washing.

Panel Series: Impacts on Public Health Measures

Join us today at 1:30 p.m. ET for the next episode in our webinar series, “Innovation and Biotech in the Time of COVID-19.” This time we will hear from physicians and epidemiologists as they explore the big-picture impacts of COVID-19 on public health measures. 

Our speakers include:

• Richard Malley, Senior Physician in Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Boston Children’s Hospital & Scientific Founder of Affinivax
• Yonatan Grad, Assistant Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health

Stay Safe, Stay Healthy, Stay Home!