27 mar 2020
IISL INFORMATIVE NOTE ON COVID-19 (3)
(27 March 2020)
This document replaces the IISL INFORMATIVE NOTE ON COVID-19 numbers 1 and 2, published on 6 March and 13 March 2020, respectively. It aims to provide updated information about the way in which the evolution of the COVID-19 global pandemic is affecting the IISL activities.
This is a difficult task, as reports and issues change daily, and unfortunately the general situation has significantly worsened both at the global level and very especially in Spain. Both Spanish and Basque governments have adopted new drastic and extraordinary measures, including a four-week ‘State of Alarm’ until 12 April 2020, with the purpose of containing the extension of COVID-19, including, amongst many other measures, severe conditions of confinement at home.
More than 150 countries have established travel restrictions and other preventive measures related to inward and outward travels to Spain, which are severely affecting our potential visitors’, students’ and workshop participants’ mobility. These and other restrictions may also have an impact beyond our control that any potential visitor to the IISL should examine carefully. We will very much appreciate your collaboration to keep us aware about any relevant information that may affect the viability of your IISL related activities on the short and mid-term (see links below).
Fortunately, no one at the Oñati IISL has been affected directly by the pandemic so far, but we shall be extremely prudent, being our sole priority now the protection of the wellbeing of our students, visitors, and staff. For that reason, and in compliance with the current regulations, we have taken a number of decisions related to each and every one of our activities:
- Three weeks ago, we cancelled our presential lectures in our International Master’s Degree in Sociology of Law, but only a single course was moved to full online teaching. The course has been completed and, according to everybody involved, everything went very well. This facilitated the repatriation of some of our students that wished to return to their homes, whilst others are still lodged at our Antia Residence, awaiting the improvement of the situation. This experience had the additional value of equipping us for considering the possibility of expanding our on-line education capabilities, beyond the current crisis.
- On 23 March, we moved the whole IISL team to telecommuting, in order to comply with the exceptional measures in force under the ‘State of Alarm’, facilitating our staff to stay at home, without stopping our most critical activities. Some technical improvements in our informatic infrastructures have been needed, but, fortunately, from the very first moment, the system is working quite well.
- We have cancelled our Visiting Scholars Programme during these past two weeks in March, and also for April and May, and we will consequently proceed with June and July if the situation does not improve. We very much appreciate the kind understanding of our visitors, and their kind willingness to delay their coming to Oñati. All of them will be very welcome in a near future, if they so wish.
- On 13 Friday, we also closed our Library, but we are still offering online services to the global socio-legal community, and our librarians are still cataloging our new acquisitions and the donations that we constantly receive from all over the world, which are so important for us.
- Regarding our Workshop 2020 Season, two weeks ago we invited all Workshops’ Chairs to discuss with the potential workshop participants the situation, as well as to consider, in view of the information gathered, the best way to secure a successful meeting, even if this may entail the reduction of in-person participants, or the re-scheduling of the workshop either within 2020 or, exceptionally, to 2021. As a result of this consultative process, all workshops programmed for April, and most of those scheduled for May, have been postponed or are simply on hold. Others have been cancelled. Our Workshop Calendar for 2020 has been already updated and some other changes will be uploaded soon on our website. We are trying to decide with at least an anticipation of a month before the scheduled date with every workshop, following our calendar step by step.
- Possibilities for 2020 workshops to be rescheduled to the 2021 season will be examined case by case, but due to our tight schedule, this will be a delicate task. Exceptionally, a minimum of 10 presential participants will be required to celebrate a workshop at the IISL, but this number may be complemented with 2/3 recorded presentations, or participation through Skype, by those affected by duly documented governmental, sanitary, or travel restrictions.
- The IISL will allow a liberal cancellation policy for those workshops whose Chairs may consider that a significant reduction of in-person participants critically affects its viability.
- We are considering to offer the formula of video-conferencing, if this may help all involved sides to minimize the impact of the pandemic in our programmed activities. But we still need some time to move forward, as this is a delicate decision for the IISL, whose implication we need to examine carefully, both within the IISL Team and the IISL Board.
We understand, however, that every potential IISL visitor during the coming months will need to make a personal decision based on their personal health condition, recommendations and/or restrictions of their home countries, and the overall effect of these aspects on their planned activity. This decision should be the result of a well-informed assessment, but we can assist in your decision-making offering up-to-date information from our side.
It is important to underline that the IISL takes no responsibility, or claim for any monetary amount arising from the cancellation of travel or any other restrictions adopted by governments, health authorities, or transport companies. However, the IISL will examine the requests for the return of participation fees in workshops, as well as visiting researchers’ bench fees, which may occur for these reasons. These requests must be duly documented, and the bank transfer costs will be deducted from the net amount of the fees.
We are trying our best to provide transparency about our decisions as we balance the reality of the situation with the understandable concern amongst potential visitors to the IISL.
However, should the situation change, we will reconsider our current position, and we will do our very best to keep everyone apprised of developments and of our decisions moving forward.
Please feel free to reach out to the IISL staff with on-going questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maite Elorza Noé Cornago
IISL Administration Director IISL Scientific Director
For more information:
WHO World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus
EU-ECOC European Union European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control :
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/covid-19/all-reports-covid-19
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/novel-coronavirus-china/sources-updated
ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization: https://www.icao.int/Security/COVID-19/Pages/default.aspx
IATA Information of travel restrictions:
https://www.iata.org/en/programs/safety/health/diseases/
https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/international-travel-document-news/1580226297.htm
BCD travel, report on travel restrictions by countries: https://www.bcdtravel.es/ultimas-noticias/Restricciones-de-viaje-y-cierres-de-fronteras-por-pais.html
Ministry of Health, Government of Spain: https://www.mscbs.gob.es/profesionales/saludPublica/ccayes/alertasActual/nCov-China/home.htm /
Department of Health, Basque Government: https://www.euskadi.eus/nuevo-coronavirus-covid-19/
Recommendations provided by our partner institution, the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU): https://www.ehu.eus/es/-/informacion-de-la-situacion-del-coronavirus-o-covid-19
IISL’S INFORMATIVE NOTE ON COVID-19 (2)
13 March 2020
This document replaces the IISL INFORMATIVE NOTE ON COVID-19 (1) published past March 6, 2020. It aims to provide updated information about the way in which the evolution of the COVID-19 global pandemic may affect IISL’s planned activities and, most importantly, the health of our students, visitors, and staff.
Unfortunately, the general situation has significantly worsened both at the global level and the Spanish case. Both Spanish and Basque governments have adopted new drastic and extraordinary measures, including a two-week ‘State of Alarm’ declaration, with the purpose of containing the extension of COVID-19, including the cancellation of all presential educational activities.
According to these protocols, we have cancelled our presential lecturing in our Master’s Degree for two weeks. We shall also address directly to the Basque public health system, for the corresponding diagnostic and test, any person with symptoms of flu, respiratory difficulties or fever. Fortunately, no IISL staff member, student or academic visitor has been affected so far by COVID-19, but we shall act with extreme prudence.
Many countries have established travel restrictions and other preventive measures related to Spain, which may affect our potential visitors’ mobility. These and other restrictions may have also an impact beyond our control that any potential visitor of the IISL should examine carefully. We will very much appreciate your collaboration to keep us aware about any relevant information that may affect the viability of your IISL related activities (see links below).
We understand that every potential IISL visitor during the coming months will need to make a personal decision based in their personal health condition, recommendations and/or restrictions of their home countries, and the overall effect of these aspects on their planned activity. This decision shall be the result of a well-informed assessment but we can assist in your decision-making offering up-to-date information from our side.
More specifically, we invite Workshops’ Chairs to discuss with their workshop potential participants the situation, as well as to consider, in view of the information gathered, the best way to secure a successful meeting, even if this may entail the reduction of in person participants, or some remote presentation via Skype.
In view of the current situation, we have decided to adopt the following special measures:
- Aiming to proceed in an ordered way, the IISL will examine any potential incidences with our Workshops Season and Visiting Scholars Programme, prioritizing those cases that come before in our planned timeline.
- The IISL is already negotiating with the coordinators of those workshops that were expected to be held in April to postpone their celebration within the current 2020 season. Later on, and with an anticipation of at least a month, we will offer similar re-scheduling opportunities consecutively to those workshops to be held in May, June and July.
- Possibilities for 2020 workshops to be rescheduled to the 2021 season will be examined case by case, but due to our tight schedule, this will be a delicate task.
- A minimum of 10 presential participants will be required to celebrate a workshop at the IISL, but this number may be complemented with 2/3 recorded presentations, or participation through Skype, by those affected by duly documented governmental, sanitary, or travel restrictions. A fully virtual workshop through videoconference will not be available.
- IISL will allow a liberal cancellation policy for those workshops whose Chairs may consider that a significant reduction of in-person participants critically affects its viability.
- As for our Visiting Scholars Programme, we will invite those visitors expected to come during April 2020 to either postpone their coming to Oñati or to cancel it. Correspondingly, later on we will offer similar rescheduling opportunities consecutively to those visitors to arrive in May, June and July.
- It is important to underline that the IISL takes no responsibility, or claim for any monetary amount arising from the cancellation of travel or any other restrictions adopted by governments, health authorities, or transport companies. However, the IISL will examine the requests for the return of participation fees in workshops, as well as visiting researchers’ bench fees, which may occur for these reasons. These requests must be duly documented, and the bank transfer costs will be deducted from the net amount of the fees.
We are trying our best to provide transparency about our decisions as we balance the reality of the situation with the understandable concern amongst potential visitors to the IISL.
However, should the situation change, we will reconsider our current position, and we will do our very best to keep everyone apprised of developments and our decisions moving forward.
Please feel free to reach out to the IISL staff with on-going questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maite Elorza Noé Cornago
IISL Administration Director IISL Scientific Director
Info-Links:
WHO World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus
EU-ECOC European Union European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/covid-19/all-reports-covid-19 / https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/novel-coronavirus-china/sources-updated
IATA Information of travel restrictions: https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/international-travel-document-news/1580226297.htm
Ministry of Health, Government of Spain: https://www.mscbs.gob.es/profesionales/saludPublica/ccayes/alertasActual/nCov-China/home.htm /
Department of Health, Basque Government: https://www.euskadi.eus/nuevo-coronavirus-covid-19/
Recommendations provided by our partner institution, the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU): https://www.ehu.eus/es/-/informacion-de-la-situacion-del-coronavirus-o-covid-19
IISL’S INFORMATIVE NOTE ON COVID-19 (1)
6 March 2020
We have received a number of enquiries regarding the coronavirus issue. The IISL has given a great deal of attention to it, with a view on its potential impact on our activities, and, more importantly, on the health of our students, visitors, and staff.
This is a difficult task, as reports and issues change daily, but no exceptional measures have been adopted so far by either the WHO, the European Union, and the Spanish and Basque governments that may distort, in our view, IISL’s regular planning for the coming months (see links below).
The Spanish and Basque public authorities have adopted some ad-hoc protocols informing both the healthcare system staff and the general public about how to proceed before some symptoms of infection, to speed up the appropriate medical treatment. According to these protocols, we shall address any person with symptoms of flu, respiratory difficulties, or fever directly to the Basque public healthcare system, for the corresponding test and diagnosis. Fortunately, neither the city of Oñati, nor the IISL community has been affected so far by COVID-19.
We shall bear in mind, however, that some countries (e.g. China, South Corea, Italy and Switzerland, among others) have established travel restrictions and other preventive measures that may affect our potential visitors’ mobility. These external restrictions may have also an impact on the IISL’s programmed activities, and we will very much appreciate your collaboration to keep us aware about any relevant information that may affect the viability of your IISL-related activities.
We understand that every potential IISL visitor during the coming months will need to make a personal decision based in their personal health condition, recommendations and/or restrictions of their home countries, and the overall effect of these aspects on their planned activity at the IISL. This decision shall be the result of a well-informed assessment, but we can assist in your decision-making offering up-to-date information from our side.
More specifically, we invite Workshops’ Chairs to discuss with their potential workshop participants the situation, as well as to consider, in view of the information gathered, the best way to secure a successful meeting, even if this may entail the reduction of in-person participants, or the need to accept some remote presentations via Skype.
According to all official recommendations to date, there are no impediments, other than those established by governments all over the world, for welcoming you at the IISL, and we are certain to keep all our regular activities as planned. However, should the situation change, we would reconsider our current position, and we will do our very best to keep everyone apprised of developments and our decisions moving forward.
As for other arrangements that we have made, these are:
- The IISL will offer the opportunity to deliver recorded presentations, or participate through Skype, to those participants affected by governmental, sanitary, or travel restrictions, as long as these are well-documented.
- The IISL will allow a liberal cancellation policy for those workshops whose Chairs may consider that a significant reduction of in-person participants critically affects their viability.
- It is important to underline that the IISL takes no responsibility, or claim, for any loss of money arising from the cancellation of travel or any other restrictions adopted by governments, health authorities, or transport companies. However, the IISL will examine the requests for the return of participation fees in workshops, as well as visiting researchers’ bench fees, which may occur for these reasons. These must be duly documented, and the bank transfer costs will be deducted from the net amount of the fees.
- Possibilities for 2020 workshops re-scheduling of dates for 2021 will be examined case by case, but due to our tight schedule, this will be a delicate task.
- Visiting Scholars will also be able to postpone their visit to the IISL.
The IISL will continue to monitor the situation as it evolves. We are doing our best to provide transparency about our decisions as we balance the reality of the situation with the understandable concern amongst potential visitors to the IISL.
Please feel free to reach out to the IISL staff with on-going questions or concerns.
Sincerely
Maite Elorza Noé Cornago
IISL Administration Director IISL Scientific Director
For more information:
WHO World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus
EU-ECOC European Union European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/covid-19/all-reports-covid-19
/ https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/novel-coronavirus-china/sources-updated
Ministry of Health, Government of Spain: https://www.mscbs.gob.es/profesionales/saludPublica/ccayes/alertasActual/nCov-China/home.htm / https://www.mscbs.gob.es/profesionales/saludPublica/ccayes/alertasActual/nCov-China/documentos/Recomendaciones_regreso_area_riesgo.pdf
Ministry of Health, updated information: https://www.mscbs.gob.es/profesionales/saludPublica/ccayes/alertasActual/nCov-China/situacionActual.htm
Department of Health, Basque Government: https://www.euskadi.eus/nuevo-coronavirus-covid-19/
Recommendations provided by our partner institution, the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU): https://www.ehu.eus/es/-/informacion-de-la-situacion-del-coronavirus-o-covid-19