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Covid-19 procedures for visiting astronomers and contractors

Updated 2022 Feb 7th 


CHANGES TO THIS POLICY IN FEBRUARY 2022

  • High Risk Countries section has been removed, as this qualification no longer applies.
  • Rapid Antigen Test needs to be done in the previous 24 hours to arrival.


LINKS TO OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT POLICIES

For reference, the following two links give updated status of government rules from the Canarian and Spanish Governments, which the Isaac Newton Group follows to a large extent: 


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: 

  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. 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. 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, including other Canary islands: 

>>> Given the current situation of fast spreading of Omicron variant, as an extra safety measure we require all visiting astronomers and all professionals who are going to share a closed space with ING staff for a period longer than 0.5 hours, need to bring a negative test result taken not earlier than 72 hours of their visit.

  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 bring a certificate proving one of the following:
    1. You have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
    2. You have a negative result of any of the following tests.
      1. NAAT- nucleic acid amplification tests (e.g.: RT-PCR, RT-LAMP, TMA, HAD, NEAR, CRISPR, SDA), with sampling within the previous 72 hours to arrival in Spain.
      2. RAT-rapid antigen test, with sampling within the previous 24 hours to arrival in Spain.
    3. You have recovered from COVID-19.
  3. Visitors arriving without any of these certificates 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.  

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.

>>> Given the current situation of fast spreading of Omicron variant, as an extra safety measure we require all visiting astronomers and all professionals who are going to share a closed space with ING staff for a period longer than 0.5 hours, need to bring a negative test result taken not earlier than 72 hours of their visit.

  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. You have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
    2. You have a negative result of any of the following tests.
      1. NAAT- nucleic acid amplification tests (e.g.: RT-PCR, RT-LAMP, TMA, HAD, NEAR, CRISPR, SDA), with sampling within the previous 72 hours to arrival in Spain.
      2. RAT-rapid antigen test, with sampling within the previous 24 hours to arrival in Spain.
    3. 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 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 (English)

Declaración Responsable COVID 19 (Español)

Spain Travel Health website / Health Control Form


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