Face masks now compulsory indoors on all ETH premises

Starting on Wednesday, 1 December, face masks must be worn in all indoor spaces, including office and lab workplaces, and during meetings. The only exception is when an employee is the sole occupant of a room. The Executive Board is introducing this emergency measure with immediate effect in response to the rapid increase in Covid infections and the recently emerged Omicron variant. Furthermore, both the Executive Board and the Crisis Management team strongly recommend more meetings be conducted online again and great restraint exercised at all social events. The most important aim of the Executive Board and Crisis Management team is to enable classroom teaching wherever possible until the end of the semester.

ETH Vice President Ulrich Weidmann, head of the internal ETH Covid Crisis Management team, provides an update on the latest developments.

Mr Weidmann, in response to a request from your Crisis Management team, the Executive Board has introduced a general requirement to wear face masks indoors. Is there already another new version of the master plan?
We are currently in a very unpredictable phase of the pandemic. We must assume that the federal or cantonal government will introduce new regulations over the coming days. We will incorporate these changes in a new master plan at the appropriate time. The decision to introduce a general requirement to wear face masks indoors, with the exception of anyone working alone in a room, is a very straightforward and highly effective measure. It is intended to reduce infections and supplements the current master plan, which remains in force until further notice.

In addition to the new face mask requirement, ETH is urging all its members to be very cautious when attending social events. At the start of November, you announced that it was possible for Christmas meals to be organised. Don’t you think this change of direction creates uncertainty?
It’s not a fundamental change of direction. Social events and gatherings have become increasingly important in view of their positive effect on mental health and team spirit. We need to make sure that our social networks are not under threat. When it comes to physical health, however, we think it is extremely important for all ETH members to be very cautious given the current circumstances. We know that the risk of infection is greatest during face-to-face encounters. But we cannot solve this dilemma by passing regulations: it is down to everyone’s personal responsibility to be careful. The smaller the group and the shorter the event, the safer it is. Ideally such events should not be held in a confined space indoors, but outdoors if possible, or at least in a room with plenty of space. The main priority, however, is that all team members should feel comfortable and no one is excluded. If there’s any doubt in a team, it’s always better to cancel or postpone the event.

What about the new master plan, which calls on all members of staff to return to campus for at least  one or two days a week – was this a wrong decision?
I can understand some people may get the impression that the Crisis Management team and Executive Board might have relaxed the rules too far. Compared with many other firms and institutions, however, our rules are still fairly restrictive. At the start of September, we advised people to spend more time in the workplace if possible. Working on site has already injected fresh momentum into many teams. Any individual employees who did not get the opportunity to embrace this revived team spirit might potentially be left feeling isolated. With this in mind, we have reformulated the recommendation as an expectation and in this way simplified requirements.

In many places, however, the change was interpreted as a significant relaxation of the rules …
In hindsight, the timing of the communication was not great. The signalling effect was not ideal. But nothing changed for most employees – namely for all those who were already following the recommendation and working the occasional day on site. I’d like to stress once again: it was not a significant relaxation of the rules – in fact the rules in place at ETH are still stricter than in the wider community.

What are you thinking of specifically?
Take remote working from home, for example: while many companies and organisations called their staff back to work in the summer, we recommended people should return to their workplace for a day or two. Since the start of the Autumn Semester, wearing a face mask has been compulsory in all lectures and seminars and indoor spaces generally. The only exceptions to date have been when in the workplace or during meetings (by mutual agreement). These exceptions are now cancelled with immediate effect. We also have stricter rules regarding contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid: ETH members who have been vaccinated must work from home for 10 days after the initial contact, even if they are officially exempt from quarantine. If this is impossible for operational reasons, they must wear a mask at all times during this period and avoid contact with others.

So you are not withdrawing the call to work one or two days on site?
Not for the moment. We expect the federal government or Zurich cantonal government to announce measures over the next few days, which we will then incorporate in a new master plan. I freely admit there are some critical voices at ETH Zurich pointing out, for example, that staff are worried about travelling on public transport, despite the fact of there being a tried and tested safety protocol in place. However, our members feel safe within ETH buildings. We know this from feedback from heads of department and staff units with whom we are in permanent dialogue. Many stress that colleagues value the opportunity to work on site, as it provides a totally different quality of experience and encourages direct collaboration with colleagues and students. By making face masks compulsory indoors, we are making the workplace that much safer.