Care For You, Others, and the Community

Care For You, Others, and the Community

Researchers serve a vital role at Teachers College. In human subjects studies, researchers are responsible for protecting the safety and welfare of participants in the research, including the researchers themselves, research subjects, students, and staff. In these sections, we provide guidelines to help researchers maintain best practices for such protections during a pandemic.

AT MINIMUM, YOU SHOULD KNOW:

Person to person exposure is the most frequent route of transmission for infectious viruses and occurs via direct inhalation of respiratory droplets during close contact. Exposure is at its highest when people are:

  • Within ~6 feet of one another.
  • In close contact for ~15 minutes or more.
  • Exposed to an infected person, especially when they cough, sneeze, or talk.
  • In contact with surfaces and objects such as shared equipment. Keyboards, computer mouse, phones and writing utensils may become contaminated with SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, or other infectious viruses.
  • In contact with COVID-19 by touching a contaminated surface and then touching one’s own eyes, nose, or mouth.
  • Face coverings:
    • Limit the spread of infectious viruses when they cover both your mouth and nose. 
    • Physically block respiratory droplets shed by the person wearing the mask (e.g., during coughing, sneezing or talking) from reaching others.
    • Help prevent pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals from inadvertently spreading the virus to others.
    • Protect the people around you; their face covering protects you.
    • New evidence suggests that face coverings can also help protect the wearer. 
  • Before Putting on a Mask: Clean hands with alcohol-based hand sanitizer or soap and water
  • Touching only the ear or head loops, place the mask on your face so that it fully covers your mouth and nose. 
  • Adjust the mask using only the straps. If it has an adjustable nose piece, press down around the edges of the mask so that it conforms to the contours of your face.
  • While wearing a mask: 
    • Cover your mouth and nose. 
    • Make sure there are no gaps between your face and the mask.
    • Avoid touching the mask. 
    • If you do touch your mask, clean your hands with alcohol-based hand sanitizer or soap and water. 
    • Replace the mask with a new one as soon as it is damp. 
    • Do not reuse single-use masks.
  • A face shield can also be worn, as long as it is worn correctly
  • For single-use masks:
    • Remove the mask from behind, touching only the strings or ear-loops
    • Do not touch the front of mask
    • Discard the mask immediately in a closed bin
    • Clean hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water
    • Be mindful of ways to work individually and collectively toward long-term sustainability of complex living systems and avoid waste whenever possible
Reporting Flow chart for Research Activities

Contact Us

Teachers College Preparedness

Phone: (212) 678-3111 Email: returntocampus@tc.columbia.edu

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