TO ALL THE MEMBERS OF THE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY OF THE SCUOLA NORMALE
SUPERIORE

Pisa, 5 March 2020

Following the Director’s announcement of yesterday evening, March 4, and the recent directives of the President of the Council of Ministers, we communicate below a few more detailed directives concerning the carrying out of activities at the Scuola Normale Superiore beginning today, March 5, and in force at least until Sunday, March 15.

General precautions:
1 ) Needless to say, every norm of hygiene already announced and repeatedly publicized must be followed scrupulously. In any event, at the end of this document you will find the list of public health measures set in place by the recent Decree of the President of the Council of Ministers.
2 ) Among these, maintain in all public activities (use of the cafeteria, libraries, academic gatherings, work groups etc.) a distance of at least one meter from other people.

College dorms [Collegi]
The dorms, being closed communities leading to a large number of contacts, are environments that are particularly at risk for the spreading of air-borne diseases such as COVID-19. Therefore, no external guests are to be admitted into the dorms of the Scuola Normale.

Moreover, it is again strongly recommended to the students living in the dorms to avoid all travel that is not strictly necessary. All travel, in particular involving the main areas of diffusion of the virus, entail a (not easily quantifiable) increase of risk to individuals and to the entire community. Those who deem that traveling (to go home or for other personal reasons) cannot be avoided must carefully consider the possibility of not returning before March 15, in order not to increase the risk of contagion within the college dorm.

Teaching activities
1 ) All teaching activities requiring physical presence, including the language lectures, are suspended, regardless of the number of people involved. We are currently evaluating the technical feasibility of holding some courses remotely, and to this end a work group has been formed.
2 ) Seminars and other meetings with external visitors are suspended.
3 ) Committees (including examination committees) and work groups: the meetings already scheduled and/or programmed are confirmed, but exceptions can be made on a case by case basis, to be decided with the agreement of the instructor in charge.

Research
1 ) Research activities continue regularly.
2) Concerning the laboratories, while the public health measures reiterated at the end of this document must be observed in any case, it is up to the individual directors and/or staff members in charge of the laboratories to make those decisions that will ensure the safest possible working conditions. In particular, it may be necessary to prohibit the access whenever the number of individuals present on the premises may be deemed to high for the available spaces.

Administrative, management, and student services
1 ) Will continue regularly under the current directives (example: hourly scheduling for accessing the cafeteria);
2) The libraries will remain open, following from Monday, March 9 and until at least March 15, the following schedule:

Monday to Friday: 9:00 – 19:30
Saturday: 9:00 – 19:00

Governance
1 ) The meetings of governance bodies (Federated Administrative Council, Academic Senate, Faculty Councils) already scheduled and/or programmed are confirmed.

We have confidence in everyone’s understanding and collaboration.

Health and hygiene rules

a) wash your hands often, and it is recommended to make hydroalcoholic solutions for hand washing available in all public places, gyms, supermarkets, pharmacies and other meeting places;
b) avoid close contact with people suffering from acute respiratory infections; c) avoid hugs and handshakes;
d) maintain an interpersonal distance of at least one meter;
e) cover your mouth and nose if you sneeze or cough, using a handkerchief and avoiding hand contact with respiratory secretions

f) avoid the promiscuous use of bottles and glasses, in particular during sports activities;

g) do not touch your eyes, nose and mouth with your hands;

h) do not take antiviral drugs and antibiotics, unless they are prescribed by your doctor;
i) clean the surfaces with chlorine or alcohol based disinfectants;
l) use the mask only if you suspect you are sick or if you are assisting sick people.