Dear Friends of the MBL,
MBL Director Nipam Patel and I thought it was important to relay that the MBL is carefully monitoring the ongoing coronavirus outbreak situation. Our authoritative sources of information (likely similar to your company’s) are the CDC and the state health department – in our case, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MA DPH). In addition, because of our affiliation with the University of Chicago, we are able to take advantage of their resources and expertise. We are also extending our existing emergency response plans to cover the specific ongoing situation. While we expect travel cancellations of individuals coming from severely affected overseas locations, there are no travel restrictions within the US at this time and no broad US-wide directives or guidance regarding cancelling gatherings (i.e. in schools, conferences, athletic events etc.) or recommendations regarding social distancing.
The MA DPH assesses that the risk to the public from COVID-19 remains low in the state. We require that all visitors to the campus respect the 14-day self-isolation period following travel from a country with a CDC Level 3 travel health notice. Please see https://goforward.mbl.edu/ for information and any changes should they arise. If you anticipate delays or complications at your end, we would appreciate hearing about it by contacting loanequipment@mbl.edu. As of now, the MBL is planning to hold all of its scheduled courses etc. This is, of course, subject to change depending on how things evolve but these are our current plans. We will continue to update you on a regular basis and we thank you for your continued support of the MBL.
Linda E. Hyman, Ph.D.
Burroughs Wellcome Director of Education