When the shutdown began in March, all of us began focusing on bioinformatics analyses, re-formulating papers to adapt to the lack of experimental options, or formulating reviews. In late June, USC began re-opening labs at 30% capacity. This has meant that we’ve been allowed to have 2 people in the lab at any one time, provided they maintain 10ft of distance from each other, continuously wear appropriate PPE (including masks), and we have certain rooms with only single occupancy (or no occupancy, depending on the room). This has worked well- there were no research associated transmissions of COVID at USC as of mid-August. Thus, USC is now moving to 50% re-opening. To read more, USC research policy information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic is public. So, we’re back to some lab operations, thankfully, although in a strange form. It is soothing and helpful to see our fellow lab-mates in person, if only from a distance. We’re doing everything we can to do our part to maintain a safe, COVID-free research environment and keep our lab science rolling.
