[Exports_all] EXPORTS and the COVID-19 situation

Sun Mar 8 09:32:03 PDT 2020

Hi All, 

As we all know the COVID-19 situation is moving super fast. WRT the EXPORTS field campaign there are way too many moving parts - you, your group, your institution, the ship operators, our funding agencies, the nations we will travel thru, transportation providers, etc., etc. It’s nuts. It is super important that if things change for you or if you are super uncomfortable with the plans as you understand them (and I am sure we all are a bit uncomfortable…), please let Ivona, Laura and I know. That way we can figure out the right thing for all of us.

Best, Dave

> On Mar 8, 2020, at 6:11 AM, Exports_all for Ivona Cetinic <exports_all at espo.nasa.gov> wrote:
> 
> Good morning Uta,
> 
> To you, and all the awesome ladies of this project, happy international women's day!!! 
> 
> These are great questions. Let us take it towards individual operators and get some answers for all of us. We are talking to them on (almost) daily basis these days... 
> 
> Everyone's safety is the biggest priority now. 
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> Ivona
> 
> On Sun, Mar 8, 2020, 9:01 AM Exports_all for Uta Passow <exports_all at espo.nasa.gov <mailto:exports_all at espo.nasa.gov>> wrote:
> Dave, Ivona and Laura
> 
> Just a couple of thoughts to the topic: 
> 
> For many of us the biggest danger of catching Corona will likely be the travel to the respective boats. Thus I think we got to assume that there might be someone that gets it while on one of the boats. Are there going to going to be a few testing kits on board to find out should that happen? Will the medical officer have been briefed on what to do to try to avoid a spread? Communal live on the bots may make that impossible anyway, but I remember that after Chernobyl accident it became clear that the most contaminated sites of the ship where the airfilters into the cabins, blowing radioactivity right into the sleeping quarters. Would that be an issue? What would the response plan be in case that did happen? it would be good to know that these things have been thought through to the best of our knowledge.  
> 
> Btw, United has just announced:
> 
> To give you the greatest flexibility, when you book any flight with United through March 31, you can change it for free over the next 12 months – any ticket, any fare type, any destination. 
> 
> I assume other airlines will follow suite.
> 
> 
> 
> Cheers
> 
> uta
> 
> On 3/5/2020 7:19 PM, Exports_all for David Siegel wrote:
>> Dear Colleagues,
>> 
>> As we all know the world is dealing with the multi-faceted impacts of the spread of the COVID-19 virus. We are all concerned about how the COVID-19 outbreak will affect us, our families, our local communities and this fragile world in which we live. And the story is changing daily. Official information of the state of the outbreak and methods that we all need to employ to slow its spread and keep us healthy is available at the World Health Organization <https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public> and Center for Disease Control <https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html> webpages.  
>> 
>> Of course the COVID-19 outbreak is creating many uncertainties for our North Atlantic EXPORTS field deployment. As of today, the EXPORTS North Atlantic Field Deployment will be conducted as planned. The ship operators for both the R/V Atlantis and the RRS Discovery have created self assessment plans to help screen folks either sailing or helping with the MOB/DEMOB operations. We expect the R/V Sarmeinto de Gamboa to follow suit. Please take these institutional self assessments seriously.  Further you must honestly assess your own (and your group’s) health status prior to sailing (see websites above for the symptoms of a COVID-19 infection). While it would be unfortunate for someone to miss out on sailing (and all the science and fun), not taking these risks seriously will endanger the success of the entire field campaign.
>> 
>> A couple things to consider given these uncertainties. First, try to minimize your travel, particularly foreign travel, ahead of the cruise if at all possible. There are countries today that you should not travel to prior to the MOB (again see the websites above). Know also that these policies are changing rapidly (literally daily) as more banned countries and regions are being added. So, please be on the safe side of this issue if you can.
>> 
>> Second, we recommend that you purchase refundable tickets for your nearterm travel arrangements including EXPORTS. Travel insurance might also work, but many policies will not cover cancellation due to risk of infection. Ask. It might also be difficult to claim for arrangements made after the outbreak is in progress.
>> 
>> Last, please let Ivona, Laura and I know if your institution has placed restrictions on your travel to MOB/DEMOB locations or if you personally feel uncomfortable traveling to or sailing on the cruise. Remember EXPORTS is this magic amalgamation of many creative, energetic and super talented individuals.  Together we can make (almost) anything happen. And we’ve gotten this far… 
>> 
>> Be positive as we move forward. Looking forward to seeing many of you near 49N 16.5W. And of course we’ll let you know more as we learn more. 
>> 
>> Best, Dave, Ivona, Laura and the rest of the Project Office
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
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> 
> Uta Passow,
> Marine Science Institute,
> University of California Santa Barbara, 
> CA 93106, USA
> 
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