graphics by: & Jeri Latorre on ci a lv Hanz Sa
written by: o& Sam Penian ga n ra a P Nyrene
Pandemic snap!
Research runs on 50% workforce
L
ast March 10, UP Diliman suspended classes and non-essential work in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and restricted access to buildings was implemented right away in the university’s College of Science (CS). CS laboratories and offices resumed operations months later on June 1, following Metro Manila’s shift to general community quarantine (GCQ). The shift ended an approximately three-month Luzon lockdown or enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) placed to curb the pandemic. Several weeks before the lockdown, the Institute of Chemistry (IC) Research building was still bustling with day-to-day activities—research assistants (RAs) carrying paperwork, delivery personnel unloading parcels, and a herd of students clad in lab gown marching to an instrument room. Starting June, there were new day-to-day norms across all buildings within the College of Science—a pause for temperature reading, a sanitation routine at the entrance and, in some buildings, the lack of familiar colleagues to bump into in the hallways, only printed arrows guiding the one-way clockwise foot traffic. Beyond the visible protocol changes, the challenges of lockdown aftermath amid a still-uncontained pandemic were just beginning. In the post-ECQ period, the first six weeks after GCQ declaration, researchers in CS returned to face modified work arrangements, strict working guidelines, and a race to catch up on delayed research projects affected by region-wide work suspension placed on March 15. Researchers catch up on four-month backlog Ongoing projects were delayed for at least four months, according to Dr. Ricky Nellas, CS Associate Dean for Research, Innovation, Development, and Enterprise (AD RIDE). Laboratory operations were suspended during the ECQ; in addition, after the ECQ, only a maximum of 50 percent of the personnel are allowed to physically report to work. The UP Diliman Post-ECQ Guidelines recommends campus units to identify which of “essential” and “priority” work requires physical presence in offices and to implement workfrom-home arrangement when possible (e.g. attending to manuscripts, reports, and other administrative tasks). Various directors from CS institutes stated that all research projects have been affected in some way. For institutes with studies involving field work, the Marine Science Institute
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