Update
As of 2022-05-02, all covid restrictions in the lab have been relaxed. We however still recomend increased infection control procedures should be followed and that experimenters who work in close proximity to participants for extended periods, for example for an EEG experiment, should wear a mask.
This document contains the strategy adopted by the LiRI lab to mitigate the transmission of the novel Corona virus (SARS-CoV-2). It consists of a generalised testing procedure to be adopted for all experiments as well as recommendations for personal protective equipment depending on the level of risk of transmission posed by a particular experimental modality. While increasing numbers of the Swiss population have been fully vaccinated, Covid rates are at the time of writing these guidelines, September 2021, are increasing again. This is in part due to the emergence of a variant, the DELTA variant, which is more transmissible. Therefore, it is prudent to keep these conservative restrictions in place until the end of 2021 when they will next be reviewed. The virus is mainly transmitted by the respiratory route and is thus more likely to be transmitted when people are in close contact with each other in indoor settings. Therefore, the requirement to maintain social distance as much as is feasibly possible and to wear a mask will remain. To allow respiratory droplets to settle out of the air within a testing room a gap of one hour between participants should be scheduled. The risk of transmission of the virus from surface contact is small, however an increase in the prevalence of gastrointestinal viruses, particularly Norovirus, is expected in the autumn. Therefore, surface cleaning between participants has also been included in the testing procedure.
The researcher will sanitise their hands and do the appropriate PPE for the testing protocol. Details of the appropriate level of PPE based on the amount of physical contact between the researcher and the participant can be found in Appendix 1.
Participants should be advised to be punctual and arrive no more than 5 minutes before the start of the testing session.
Your experiment may require any additional procedures to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19.
After the experiment
The experimenter should monitor that the participant adheres to the hygiene requirements and should be immediately available if the participant requests assistance at any time during the session.
Broadly speaking, experiments run in the LiRI lab can be divided into three types:
Type 1: experiments where the researcher and the participant(s) can easily maintain social distance.
Type 2: experiments where the researcher and the participant(s) cannot maintain social distance and a short amount of close contact is required for set up (for example, EEG or fNIRS).
Type 3: experiments in which the researcher is likely to come into contact with saliva from the participant (for example, EMA).
The division of the three types of experiments is based roughly on the associated risk of transmission to the experimenter.
Type 1: Behavioural experiments where the researcher and the participant can maintain 2 metres social distance.
Type 2: Any experiment where the researcher and the participant can’t maintain social distance.
Type 3: Any experiment where the researcher is likely to come into contact with saliva.
References:
CDC (7 May 2020). “Scientific Brief: SARS-CoV-2 Transmission”. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
WHO (13 December 2021) “Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): How is it transmitted?”. www.who.int. World Health Organization. Retrieved 22 July 2021.