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Covid-19 Pandemic
COVID-19 Pandemic Response
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The emergence of the COVID-19 virus in the winter of 2020 made international news due to its rapid transmission and casualty rate throughout the world. In realizing the virus’ proliferation, crippling impact and global severity, many safety measures were undertaken by the Singh staff to reduce the spread of the virus.
In taking the necessary precautionary measures to safeguard human life and reduce the risk of infection, the University of Pennsylvania suspended all in-person activity to all but essential staff. The following pages describe the efforts that the Singh Center for Nanotechnology have implemented and continue to practice during this crisis.
COVID-19 Response
In March, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a facility shutdown per University, City, and State regulations. This section describes how the Singh Center for Nanotechnology responded to the pandemic.
The suspension of operations of the Quattrone Nanofabrication Facility (QNF) went into effect on March 17, 2020. While concern for human safety was our first priority, meticulous planning was also required for the cleanroom shutdown with a focus on maintaining functionality of our equipment and supporting components. Cleanroom staff were designated as essential workers in order to monitor and operate cleanroom tools on a daily basis during the school closure.
Staff were put on a one-half-day, per person, M-F schedule of cleanroom inspection and exercising of tools. This process continued until the beginning of the phased reopening in June 2020. During this shutdown period, two COVID-related research projects were granted access to our facility, following a thorough review by the Associate Dean for Research of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Penn, to whom oversight authority was delegated from the Vice Provost for Research and the Deans of both Engineering and Arts & Sciences. QNF Phase I Reopening: The University of Pennsylvania began phased resumption of research on June 8, 2020. A limited number of researchers (targeted population density of 20%) were permitted on campus on an opt-in basis. Singh Center staff began planning for this reopening in May. The first priority was to provide a safe workspace, making use of the latest knowledge about modes of coronavirus infection. This led to a set of procedures that emphasized mask wearing and physical separation of at least six feet, as well as hand and surface sanitizing. The internal deliberations were in part guided by discussions held with neighboring facilities within the region and facilitated by the Singh Center for Nanotechology’s leadership in organizing the Mid-Atlantic Nanofab Managers Meetings.
A priority was also placed on maximizing availability of the Singh Center facility to all researchers, including those from external academic institutions and from industry, as long as they would not be under a travel restriction from either the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or the Philadelphia County Department of Public Health. Although under these conditions existing, already-trained users could return, no new users or visitors were allowed, and no tool training took place.
Those researchers choosing to return to campus were required to complete an online training class and to show documentation from their supervisor of a request to begin research at the Singh Center. Approval of the documentation was funneled through the Office of the Associate Dean for Research.
To comply with distancing requirements, occupancy limits were set for the cleanroom and laboratory spaces, and they were tracked by our online reservation system, IRIS. The cleanroom gowning area was reconfigured to eliminate mingling of garments from different users by creating individual garment boxes. Also, the pre-gown area and the final gown area were limited to one user each. QNF cleanroom staff gowning was relocated to a different location to limit overlap and reduce risk.
For the QNF cleanroom, new protocols were created to mitigate possible spread of COVID-19. A sanitizing wipe-down station was set up outside of the gowning room and another was set up in the gowning room, each equipped with 70% IPA spray bottles. Users were supplied with cleanroom garments, safety glasses, and a weekly supply of face masks for use in the cleanroom. Face masks were to be worn properly over the mouth and nose. Anti-fogging wipes were provided to minimize fogging of safety glasses. Inside the cleanroom, each tool had the area in front of it taped out with striped tape to create boundaries help users visualize and maintain appropriate distancing. All of these new rules and procedures were documented in a five-minute training video and corresponding 18 question quiz. The video and quiz were disseminated and managed online.
QNF Phase II Research: Phase II of the reopening commenced in July 2020 and allowed for an increase of the population density in the Singh Center (target 50% population density). With the rules and procedures set up in Phase I proving successful, tool training and new user onboarding was restarted. Both of these activities generally require in-person verbal instructions that are occasionally less than six feet for short periods of time. In addition, a newer contact tracing application was developed by the School of Medicine (Penn OpenPass) that surveys users on a daily basis for symptoms or contact with infected individuals. This process is required to enter any campus facility.
For tool training, the preferred process is to suggest training from a fellow lab member since they already exist as a common risk pool. They are also required to wear a lightweight face shield prophylactically, as is done at the School of Nursing and School of Medicine for their in-person clinical training.
When lab member training is not possible, staff must do the training. Fortunately, prior to the pandemic, an initiative was already underway to move tool training to video, either to supplement, or in some cases, to replace in-person training, given the multiple advantages it provided. This has proved critical to minimizing staff time spent training. As with lab member training, a face shield is required for the instruction.
New user orientation was already set up as an online process except for a final lab walkthrough, which allows staff to gauge understanding of the process and procedure, especially those that deal with safety. Here a face shield is used for the same reason.
Should contact tracing become necessary, all trainees and trainers must submit a total of five PennOpen pass screenshots (two prior to training, day of training, and two post training days).
COVID-19 Response (continued)
Shutdown and Re-opening: Nanoscale Characterization and Processing Facility / Scanning and Local Probe Facility (NCF/SLPF)
Similar to the QNF, the NCF/SLPF shut down quickly after initial warnings came out that the university was planning to cease normal operations in mid-March. The majority of the instrumentation in the SLPF is turn-key and can be powered on / off quickly. In the days preceding the university closure, staff backedup all recent user data to the facility’s cloud drive so students could access their data remotely if necessary. Interlock keys for the lasers and AFMs were removed from the labs to prevent unauthorized use. Much of the equipment in the NCF is more complex and special protocols were followed by the staff during shutdown to prevent catastrophic loss of functionality.
As we received guidance from the university on reopening plans, we coordinated internally with other units within the Singh Center and externally with other NNCI members to determine what best practices for operations might be in the new normal: how much cleaning would be needed, what PPE should be required, occupancy guidelines, and whom to allow back into the labs.
Just as the QNF, there were three phases of reopening the NCF/SLPF. Phase 0 was staff only and entailed site preparation, Phase 1 was the initial wave of student re-entry, and now Phase 2 is expanded student use and includes new user training. Details of each phase follow.
Phase 0: We procured additional gloves, sanitizing wipes, and face shields and distributed them in the labs (see Section 2.1.3). Tools were powered back on and tested for proper calibration, alignment, and the like. We installed remote desktop software on most instruments so staff could provide user support remotely from their home or office rather than join the user in a lab.
Phase 1: Users were allowed back under significant restrictions. The building population was limited to 20% of maximum capacity, so not all instruments could be used at once. Only existing Power Users with nights-and-weekends privileges were allowed to make reservations. A one-hour gap between consecutive users was implemented for each instrument to allow the lab air to completely replace itself multiple times. All students desiring access had to request permission through their PI to the office of the Associate Dean for Research. Users were required to take COVID safety training through university environmental health and safety module, and take additional training in each facility within the Singh Center as appropriate. Phase 1 lasted until mid-July.
Phase 2: Procedures were unchanged from Phase one, but building capacity was expanded to 50%. All labs could now be used at once, but still only one person per room. Non-expert users could resume use of instruments during usual work hours. We instituted guidelines for training of new users. Those guidelines included use of PPE to minimize risk of transmission when working side-by-side, establishing criteria to determine who would be eligible for training, to reduce unnecessary training sessions, and establishing a system for staff or fellow users to run samples for users in lieu of new user training. These procedures took a few weeks to roll out from the official beginning of Phase 2 to the start of new user training.
Acquiring and Dispensing Needed Supplies
The Singh Center for Nanotechnology’s reaction to the pandemic began in early January. Unaware of how severe this problem would be, we worked to acquire several months of access to cleanroom supplies. By March 2020, the Singh Center was stocked with sufficient resources to run uninterrupted for 18 months. Below are the actions taken:
• With a large supply of competitively priced personal protective equipment, the Singh Center for Nanotechnology donated almost $39,000 in PPE materials to Penn Medicine.
• Provided limited materials to the NNCI site at the University of Minnesota to carry them through.
•Collaborated with two vendors and five NNCI sites and several Mid Atlantic facilities to develop and supply a washable facemask.
• Worked with Transene Inc. to produce both hand sanitizer and hydrogen peroxide solution for cleaning surfaces. These products are now used by dozens of research facilities and hospitals across the US.
• Identified a US manufacturing supplier for face masks. This information has been shared with over 40 organizations across the US.
• Located low cost face shields to support pandemic social distancing in labs. • Acquired low-cost face shields to support pandemic social distancing in labs. The results have been communicated to the NNCI members and Mid-Atlantic research sites.
At the time of this writing, new policy and guidelines for gathering restrictions, (including indoor mask wearing) have been re-instituted on the university campus. As our health organizations and communities gain a more insightful understanding of the virus spread, the new guidelines are updated and revised as necessary.