Covid-19 procedures for visiting astronomers and contractors

Updated 2021 Jul 2ndDec 10th 

CHANGES TO THIS POLICY IN NOVEMBER 2021

• Added a new category: High Risk Country/Area.

CHANGES TO THIS POLICY IN JUNE 2021

Minor changes implemented in this page In late June 2021, to adapt procedures to updates from the Canarian and Spanish Governments.

The following two links give updated status of these government rules:

• Health requisites for travellers, Canarian Government.
• Spain Travel Health. Spanish Government.

COVID-19 REGULATIONS FOR ASTRONOMERS AND CONTRACTORS VISITING THE ING

The Isaac Newton Group (ING) have maintained effective level of operation and development activities since late spring 2020. As the national and international vaccination campaigns reach to a large fraction of the population, we maintain our focus and highest priority on the safety and well-being of staff, which can be effectively protected in the relative isolation of the observatory. We ask all prospective visiting astronomers and external contractors planning a visit to ING facilities to follow the guidelines given here (we remind visiting astronomers that it is necessary to follow the procedure described at our planning web pages, and in particular, to submit the ING bookings form in advance of the observations): 

Visitors originating in the Island of La Palma or in other Canary Islands: 

1. In the two days preceding the visit to ING, the visitor must sign and submit to ING Administration (bookings@ing.iac.es) a declaration (English, Spanish, also linked below) that:
   1. They have not had covid-19 symptoms (fever, cough) in the past 14 days
   2. They have not had close contact with someone who is confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 in the past 14 days
2. They You must come with a provision of face masks for their use while at ING premises. A certified mask is required. Therefore we strongly recommend visitors to bring surgical masks. 
3. They You must at all times follow ING practices related to COVID-19 as instructed by their ING contact. 

Visitors originating in the rest of Spain: 

1. Points 1, 2, 3 above
   1. for visiting astronomers, ING Administration (bookings@ing.iac.es) will request this information once the visitor has filled the bookings form. 
   2. for contractors, ING Administration will request this information as part of the 'Coordinación de Actividades Empresariales'. 
2. According to Canarian Health Authorities regulation, all visitors originating in any of the Comunidades Autónomas in Spain must carry out 
   1. Negative certificate of a Diagnostic Test of Active Infection,  carried out in the seventy-two hours prior to arrival in Spain, with either one of these tests,
      1. A PCR.
      2. Fast antigen tests for SARS-COV-2 with a specificity of 97% and a sensitivity of over 80%.
      3. Transcription-Mediated Amplification (TMA).
3. Visitors arriving without a negative test result will be required to undergo a quick test by the ING Health Provider before being allowed in ING premises. A list of Laboratories available for this purpose has been published by Canarian Government (Lab list). 
4. A positive result in this will require a subsequent rt-PCR test at the Servicio Canario de Salud for confirmation. A negative result in either will be enough to allow the visitor access to ING premises. A positive rt-PCR will require self-isolation in La Palma under the supervision of the health authorities, and will likely imply restrictions for traveling back home.  
5. for visiting astronomers, ING Administration (bookings@ing.iac.es) will request this information once the visitor has filled the bookings form. 
6. for contractors, ING Administration will request this information as part of the 'Coordinación de Actividades Empresariales'. 

We realise these measures are cumbersome. But they will go a long way toward preserving the safety of the observatory environment. We do thank in advance all prospective visitors for your patience. 

Visitors originating in Risk Countries/Areas (outside Spain).

1. All visitors originating in countries/areas listed as risky by the Spanish national authorities (updated list here), must complete a Health Control Form (links to forms available at the bottom of this site), and bring one of the following documents to certify that:
   1. Document certifying vaccination You have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
   2. Negative certificate of a Diagnostic Test of Active InfectionYou have a negative test result,  carried out in the seventy-two hours prior to arrival in Spain, with either one of these tests,
      1. A PCR.
      2. Fast antigen tests for SARS-COV-2 with a specificity of 97% and a sensitivity of over 80%.
      3. Transcription-Mediated Amplification (TMA).
   3. Certificate of Recovery after having passed Covid-19.
   They
   1. PCR, antigen or TMA.
   2. You have recovered from COVID-19.
2. You must come with a provision of face masks for their use while at ING premises
3. You must at all times follow ING practices related to COVID-19 as instructed by their ING contact. 

We realise these measures are cumbersome. But they will go a long way toward preserving the safety of the observatory environment. We do thank in advance all prospective visitors for your patience. 

Visitors originating in HIGH RISK country (outside Spain).

1. All visitors originating in a HIGH RISK country (list of risk countries/areas), on arrival in Spain have to present, an SpTH QR code and negative COVID-19 test certificate to health authorities. This is regardless of havin a vaccination or recovery certificate.
2. You must come with a provision of face masks for their use while at ING premises
3. They You must at all times follow ING practices related to COVID-19 as instructed by their ING contact. 

We realise these measures are cumbersome. But they will go a long way toward preserving the safety of the observatory environment. We do thank in advance all prospective visitors for your patience. 

Visitors originating in Countries/Areas NOT INCLUDED in the list of Risk Countries/Areas (outside Spain).

1. All visitors originating outside Spain, but from Countries/Areas not included in the list of Risk Countries/Areas, will only need to fill out the Health Control Form.

Residencia services

Those visitors planning to use services at the ORM Residencia should additionally check Residencia COVID-19 information at 

https://www.iac.es/en/observatorios-de-canarias/roque-de-los-muchachos-observatory/services (English)

https://www.iac.es/es/observatorios-de-canarias/observatorio-del-roque-de-los-muchachos/servicios (Spanish)

After your visit 

In the event that you test positive for COVID-19 in the two weeks after you left ING, we kindly ask you to notify ING Administration, to allow us to carry out appropriate tracing. 

Forms (Docs need to be downloaded for properly open).

Declaration of Responsibility COVID 19

Declaración Responsable COVID 19Health Control Form

Spain Travel Health website / Health Control Form