Some countries and institutions are looking to ease their Covid-19 lockdowns on research
Research institutions are joining some governments around Europe in beginning to move towards easing restrictions put in place to halt the spread of Covid-19.
The Belgian university KU Leuven has announced that from 20 April it will enter “a period of limited experimental activity” and will “allow a limited number of experiments and research processes to be carried out in its laboratories”, having suspended nearly all experimental research a month earlier.
“This only concerns research activities for which specific equipment is needed. The labs in question will be operated by a limited number of personnel and social distancing rules will be strictly adhered to,” the university said. “Processing and analysing the research results will be done from home. This means that teleworking is still the norm for all research activities, including all activities that are not equipment or location-specific.”
KU Leuven rector Lus Sels said the suspension had been “an unprecedented collective sacrifice” and that now “it is time to look ahead and be aware of the necessary continuity in research”. He said research related to Covid-19 was “taking up a lot of resources, time and energy”, adding: “But there are other scientific and social issues that also remain important in these trying times and the corona crisis often times even adds to their importance.”
On the same day, Portugal’s national Foundation for Science and Technology issued recommendations to research and higher education institutions in the country in light of the government saying it is considering lifting lockdown measures from May. The foundation said staff and students who can work remotely should continue to do so and emphasised that social distancing will be needed for those who return to campuses.
“Distance learning, teleworking and videoconferencing meetings, especially those involving people from high-risk groups, should also continue to be promoted,” it said.
Earlier this month, the EU published a ‘roadmap’ for national governments to work from when considering when and how to lift restrictions put in place to manage the Covid-19 pandemic, stressing that such moves must be coordinated and “based on science”.