Jul

New guidelines for managing COVID

In March, the CDC revised their recommendations for how Americans should manage COVID exposure and illness, aligning COVID health and safety recommendations to that of other common respiratory diseases.

The Smithsonian has adopted this cumulative approach and will now manage COVID in the same way it does other diseases of public health concern.

What this means is that the Smithsonian will no longer individually monitor COVID levels in our communities. Rather our Occupational Health Services (OHS) team will monitor all diseases of occupational concern, including influenza, COVID, measles, bird flu, etc. OHS will alert Smithsonian leadership should any of these begin to pose a significant threat to staff – just as we did when COVID emerged.

To promote a healthy workplace, Smithsonian will continue to:

Encourage respiratory virus prevention behaviors, including staying home when you are symptomatic.
Maintain a mask-friendly workplace and continue to make well-fitting masks available for staff who choose to wear them.
Provide seasonal influenza vaccines at no cost to eligible staff (at this time, we do not expect to be able to offer COVID vaccines in the fall of 2024).
Provide four hours of Administrative Leave for employees to get their recommended COVID vaccine from their personal health care provider or pharmacist.
Maintain workplace flexibility and telework options to allow eligible staff who are sick or recovering from illness to remain out of the workplace.
Be aware of local public health regulations that may be different than the CDC recommendations.

While this change impacts how the Smithsonian monitors disease, it does not impact the current telework stance or available workplace flexibilities. The Smithsonian remains committed to providing flexibility and creativity in adapting workloads, priorities, and schedules to help employees meet their work responsibilities while simultaneously balancing their health and home life. Employees and supervisors should continue to work together to determine if these workplace flexibilities are right for your roles or office. Information is available on OHR’s intranet site.

If you have questions or concerns, please refer to the new Healthy Workplace page or contact OHS at 202-633-WELL or OHS-medicalreview@si.edu.

Stay Safe and Be Well,