The COVID-19 Way Ahead Plan

Secretary Bunch announced today that the Smithsonian will transition out of COVID-19 emergency response and will move forward with our COVID Way Ahead Plan, the framework for managing operations as COVID-19 shifts from a pandemic to an endemic.

Over two years ago, on March 3, 2020, we came together and took unprecedented steps to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. I activated our Emergency Operations Plan, per SD-109, and identified a COVID-19 Smithsonian Coordinating Officer and Response Team to oversee our pandemic planning and response.

Our time operating under that emergency declaration is over. As of today, April 15, the Smithsonian will transition out of COVID-19 emergency response and will move forward with our COVID Way Ahead Plan, which is our framework for managing operations as COVID-19 shifts from a pandemic to an endemic.

We will resume a more traditional operational structure that acknowledges the continued risk COVID-19 poses but manages any needed changes to our safety measures within our standard policies and directives.  We will no longer be working under the emergency operations framework led by the COVID-19 response team.

I assure you that the expertise and care involved in protecting our staff will not be impacted. I have asked Under Secretary for Administration Ron Cortez and Rich Wright, Director of the Office of Safety, Health, and Environmental Management, to take on management of the COVID Program, as they would for any health- and safety-related program. The OSHEM Team will continue to make staff aware of any important information, will maintain the COVID-19 resource inbox, and will keep me and senior leadership apprised if COVID conditions deteriorate enough to again require additional safety measures.

The SI COVID website, an invaluable resource throughout the pandemic, will be updated to cover The Way Ahead Plan. The site outlines the CDC Community Levels and associated mitigation measures for each of our geographic regions. 

I am grateful for the leadership and tireless effort of the members of the COVID-19 Response Team who helped us safely navigate the pandemic. I am equally thankful for the dedication, flexibility and understanding of each of you as we traveled this road together. The journey is not over, but as we enter the Way Ahead, I am confident in all we can accomplish.

Related posts:

COVID-19 Update: What does “closed to the public” mean to me? COVID-19 Update: Guidance on badges, IDs and Moodle courses Confronting a Pandemic: A COVID-19 research and education update COVID-19 Update: Local quarantine and face-covering guidance