COVID-19 measures

Our response to COVID-19: ensuring a safe Helmholtz Sustainability Summit

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2nd Helmholtz Sustainability Summit is taking place under special hygiene and social distancing conditions with a limited number of participants. As the event organiser, we have developed a detailed hygiene plan for the summit to make participation as safe and pleasant as possible. The following measures apply for the summit and, if necessary, will be adjusted again at short notice in accordance with official requirements.

You will no doubt be keen to learn about the measures that we have taken to protect your health and your data. We have outlined the most important aspects for you here.

To minimise the risk of contracting COVID-19, we need your help, too. In the second section you’ll find an overview of the general rules for the event, which all participants and the event team must observe.

Before the event

Participants are required to choose a workshop and thus a fixed group when registering online. Switching to other groups during the summit is not permitted. When registering, you will have to declare your willingness to comply with the rules set out here. Only those who accept these safety and hygiene regulations will be permitted to participate in the summit.

Depending on the workshops selected, participants will be assigned specific entry points and times. These must be observed.

Activities that could put your health at risk, e.g. attending large-scale events, should be avoided as far as possible for at least seven days before the Summit. The RKI regulations apply to anyone travelling back from high-risk areas.

Step 1 – Checking the 3G rule

All participants must follow the 3G rule (either vaccinated, recovered or tested). Evidence of this must be provided prior to registration on site. If you have recovered from a COVID-19 infection or are not fully vaccinated, you must submit a PCR test conducted no earlier than 48 hours before arrival. Anyone with symptoms of the illness or for whom the Corona-Warn app indicates a risk will not be admitted.

Step 2 – Contactless registration

On-site registration is contactless. Participants will also receive an information package when they register, which has been prepared and disinfected in advance by DESY staff. In addition to providing general information, the package also contains disinfectants and FFP2 masks. The five workshops will be kept separate during the day. Participants’ name tags will state their chosen workshop in order to prevent switching between groups. Name tags must be worn at all times. The event is designed so that participants will move straight from the registration point to their assigned workshop rooms.
A medical mask must be worn inside buildings on the way to the event rooms, in all public areas outside of the event rooms and in the toilet facilities. If you have forgotten your own face mask, a replacement can be provided upon check-in. All employees present on site will also be instructed to wear medical masks.
The number of participants is limited to 20 per workshop. In line with safety requirements, the maximum number of people per room depends on the capacity of each room and will be indicated by information signs at the entrance. Instructions on how to ventilate seminar rooms and use the technical equipment are posted on notices inside the rooms.

The instructors, moderators and workshop supervisors are obliged to check whether the workshop participants are in the right place. At the beginning of a workshop, assistants will check access at the door. Compliance with cleaning and social distancing rules will be monitored continuously. Disinfectants will also be provided for the participants at numerous stations. All contact surfaces in the event rooms, including door handles and tables, will be disinfected several times a day.

Seating will be arranged to allow for the necessary social distancing (1.5 metres). Masks are mandatory in all closed rooms until all participants have taken their assigned seats. Masks are required in open areas of the rooms if the minimum distances cannot be maintained. The workshop methods will be adapted to minimise movement inside the room and close working together.

The main parts of the event will be streamed live into the individual workshop rooms.
A catering plan setting out arrangements for food and drink during the day in, at the workshop rooms and during the evening get-together has been drawn up in consultation with the caterer, taking account of the applicable catering and event rules set out in Section 9 of the Hamburg SARS-CoV-2 Containment Ordinance (2 July 2021).

The evening gathering is planned as a joint event for all participants. This will take place outdoors, over a suitably large area. The current plan is to offer a vegetarian BBQ. Admission to the evening event will be controlled to ensure that only participants enter the area.
The Helmholtz Sustainability Summit should set the gold standard for exemplary conduct by participants, so we ask you to please observe the rules. Thank you very much.

Please wear your own medical masks.

Surgical masks must be worn if several people are in one room for an extended period of time and if social distancing cannot be guaranteed.

Please also wear your mask in all other places within the building (e.g. in the toilet facilities).

Observe social distancing rules and floor markings.

Wash your hands thoroughly and regularly.

No hugging or shaking hands.

Sneeze into the crook of your arm.

Dispose of your own personal waste.

Please follow all instructions from the event team when on site.
In the unlikely event of a suspected COVID-19 infection, the following measures will be taken:

All participants in the workshop will be notified immediately by the event team at DESY.

The company medical service will identify all potential contacts of the infected person during their time at DESY and determine the degree of contact. Close contacts are defined as those who have been in close proximity with the infected person, which is defined as follows: spending more than 10 minutes with the person at a distance of less than 1.5 metres without protective masks; engaging conversation with the person at less than 1.5 metres without protective masks, regardless of the length of time; and spending more than 10 minutes together in poorly ventilated rooms with a probable high concentration of infectious aerosols. The company medical service will advise on the classification for specific cases.

Notification of the health department by the company medical service

If the event is still ongoing when the infection becomes known, the person concerned must leave the campus immediately and go into isolation. The event will be terminated immediately and the above measures initiated.

Safety rules at DESY related to COVID-19

Arrival/registration on site

Nose and mouth protection

In the workshops

Catering and the evening event

General rules of conduct during the event

What if someone suddenly falls ill?