HelpDesk/COVID

Beginning with the Fall 2022 semester, the help desk will be open door at all times during our business hours from 9am-5pm M-F and not require masking during interactions with us.

As before, it is implicit on all restrictions/lack thereof that we will follow UMD guidance as a bare minimum since we fall under UMD’s immediate administrative umbrella.

Our previous operational procedure that we followed from the beginning of the Fall 2021 semester to the end of the Summer 2022 semester can be found below.

Overview

Beginning with the Fall 2021 semester, the help desk will be operating with varying levels of health and safety precautions based on the status of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The level that we are operating in is analogous to the current community level reported by the CDC COVID-19 Community Levels. We are following Prince George’s County specifically.

It is implicit on all restrictions/lack thereof that are described below that we will follow UMD guidance as a bare minimum — regardless of the CDC’s community level for Prince George’s County — since we fall under UMD’s immediate administrative umbrella.

We will assess the CDC level for Prince George's County at 9am on the first business day of each week and adjust the precautionary level we are in accordingly. Unless mandated by UMD, the safety precautions will not change any further until they are reevaluated at 9am on the first business day of the following week.

The below sections detail what the current community level is and what the precautionary steps we are taking in each level are. We will also post signage on the door of the help desk (changing at 9am on the first business day of every week, if applicable) detailing the same.

We are considering the help desk a "shared laboratory" in UMD parlance and will abide by any mask guidance above us at either the Institute, University, or County level affecting us.

As a reminder, our business hours are 9am-5pm M-F. We observe all UMD-observed holidays.

Precautionary Levels

The three metrics used by the CDC to determine the community level (and therefore used by us to determine our precautionary levels are):

• New COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 population in the past 7 days
• Percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients
• Total new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past 7 days

High

This is defined by the CDC as the county having either:

• Fewer than 200 new positive COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past 7 days AND (20 or more new COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 population in the past 7 days OR 15 percent or higher of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients)

OR

• 200 or more new positive COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past 7 days AND (10 or more new COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 population in the past 7 days OR 10 percent or higher of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients)

If we are in the High precautionary level, the help desk will:

• Leave the doors to the help desk closed at all times
• Only perform scheduled equipment pickup/drop-off at the help desk (outside of the front door)
• Not be able to guarantee immediate response to walk-bys or phone calls
• First try to solve things remotely until we have exhausted our ability to do so - if we are not able to do so, all synchronous in-person interactions will take place at designated areas and should be scheduled ahead of time
• Not enter offices or labs if they are currently occupied or have been occupied within the last hour

Medium/Moderate

This is defined by the CDC as the county having either:

• Fewer than 200 new positive COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past 7 days AND between 10 and 19.9 new COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 population in the past 7 days AND between 10 and 14.9 percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients

OR

• 200 or more new positive COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past 7 days AND less than 10 new COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 population in the past 7 days AND less than 10 percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients

If we are in the Medium/Moderate precautionary level, the help desk will:

• Leave the doors to the help desk closed at all times
• Prefer virtual consultations to in-person ones
• Enter offices or labs regardless of occupancy status

Low

This is defined by the CDC as the county having fewer than 200 new positive COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past 7 days AND less than 10 new positive COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people per week AND less than 10 percent of staff inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients.

If we are in the Low precautionary level, the help desk will:

• Leave the front door to the help desk open for unscheduled interactions during business hours
• Enter offices or labs regardless of occupancy status
• Essentially be operating at normal capacity (pre-COVID levels)