Business trips in Germany should only be carried out if absolutely necessary. The approval is the responsibility of the respective head of department.

Business trips abroad, which must be questioned even more critically, must get voted with the head of department and get agreed with the director of department. There is no need to report business trips to the crisis management team of the general administration of the Max Planck Society anymore.

It is possible to obtain certificates of incapacity to work by telephone from your doctor.

Special leave can be granted in the event of daycare and school closures, closures of facilities for persons with disabilities, childcare prohibition due to segregation, as well as school or company holidays ordered by the competent authority for reasons of infection control or in the event of the lifting of compulsory attendance at a school.

From 28 March 2021, the period for granting special leave was initially extended until 30 September 2021.
If you need to use special leave in an emergency, please contact Ms. Franke in Human Resources: personal@we dont want spammpimet.mpg.de

We would like to remind you that it is very helpful to keep a contact diary. In case of an infection, the public health department would query past contacts..
Download: Contact Diary     

Regarding our recommendation to keep a contact diary, we would like to point out here that with the latest update of the Corona Warning App, the function of a contact diary is now available there. Users of the app can voluntarily note down their encounters in it, in order to be able to effectively support the health department in tracing the chains of infection in the event of an infection with the corona virus.

A good compilation of the known facts about the coronavirus can be found on the website of the Robert Koch Institute.

The Authority for Health and Consumer Protection also provides information on the topic, including specific information for Hamburg: https://www.hamburg.com/residents/settle/health/13702364/coronavirus/

The city of Hamburg provides FAQs and general rulings in foreign languages: https://www.hamburg.de/coronavirus/international/

For MPI-M employees: Find further information in the intranet of the Max Planck Society: https://max.mpg.de/News/Pages/Empfehlungen-zum-Umgang-mit-dem-neuen-Corona-Virus-EN.aspx

The Federal Ministry of Health presents three criteria which you should check in case of suspicion. If you have symptoms of a respiratory infection (e.g. coughing) AND have been in a risk area in the last 14 days OR if contact with a person suffering from coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is less than 14 days ago, then contact with a doctor is recommended. Do not go to a doctor's office yourself to avoid infecting other people in an emergency, but call the doctor first (source: Authority for Health and Consumer Protection):

Hotline for Hamburg: +49 40 428 284 000

Medical emergency service (Note: It is best to call from a landline phone. Calls from mobile phones remain on hold longer, as the missing area code means that the local emergency service responsible must be determined first): 116 117

First aid emergency (!only for potentially life-threatening emergencies!): 112

Hamburg residents with relevant symptoms who have recently travelled to affected areas or who have had contact with people who may be infected can obtain advice by telephone at their doctor's surgery or at the numbers listed above. The Hamburg Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians is currently preparing the possibility of testing at home after consulting the emergency medical service (116 117) in order to avoid further contact with other people.

Guidelines Covid 19, source: Robert Koch-Institut and WHO

Self-testing at MPI-M, updated July 6, 2021
There will be a maximum of 2 self-tests per week for all staff members who are dependent on working at the Institute, subject to availability.

Self-tests can be collected from Mr. Hosenberg's office (room B110). If you cannot meet him in person, please write an email to henning.hosenberg@we dont want spammpimet.mpg.de and max. 2 tests will be placed in your mailbox.

COVID-19 Testing in Hamburg, last update May 20, 2021

In Hamburg, all citizens are offered at least one free antigen quick test per week (overview: https://www.hamburg.de/corona-schnelltest/).
You can find the available test offers and book your appointment here: https://eterminservice.de/terminservice.

The COVID-19 situation in Hamburg:
https://www.hamburg.com/residents/settle/health/14111762/corona-whats-new/

In all buildungs, corridors and public places at the MPI-M it is obligatory to wear a medical face masks (FFP2 mask /surgical mask). In need of medical face mask we have deposit FFP2 masks the Postraum of Bundestr. 53.

Access to the buildings:

• Access to the Bundesstrasse 53 is only possible with a card.
• Access to the Bundesstrasse 55, Geomatikum is open, no check-in/check-out personally at the porter lounge anymore.
•  Access to the Bundesstrasse 45a is open. CIS employees of the institute are mostly working at home. Contact via mail: help-it@mpimet.mpg.de, or call: 41173-361.
• At Schäferkampsallee 29 access is by door code as before.

With the adaption of the Infection Protection Act (Infektionsschutzgesetz) the obligation of offering home office ended on 1st July 2021. The Institute renewed the recommandation in accordance with The Max Planck Society to work from home. This appeal is valid till September 2021.

Hardware:
Under the current circumstances you are allowed to take hardware from your MPI-M office with you to set up an ergonomic workplace at home (e.g. flat screen, mouse, keyboard). As we still need to keep track of the hardware please send a mail to help-it@we dont want spammpimet.mpg.de with your name, room (at the MPI), inventory and or serial number of the device.

In order to make a contribution to minimizing contacts even further in the coming weeks, we ask you to work from home whenever possible.

The institute remains open. Information on our supplementary house rules concerning Covid-19:
infection protection and hygiene regulations.

• Do not come to the Institute with signs of a cold.
• Double occupancy of rooms should be avoided. Please coordinate the occupancy of a room with your colleagues.
  The departmental secretariats will also be happy to assist you here.
• Only one person is allowed in the kitchens, lavatories, printerrooms, elevators and postroom.

Selection interviews and hearings in appointment procedures are to be held virtually.

The use of the technical laboratories is permitted after consultation with the group leader and in compliance with the existing distance and hygiene rules.

Dear users of the Library and Information Service for Earth System Research,

Three changes we would like to inform you about in connection with the 20th service instruction for the use of our library:

• Self check-out is available. You are again welcome to browse among the shelves for literature.
• The research PC may be used again. You may now search for literature on site.
• Our old DIN-A3 multifunction device with scan-to-email function may be used again. The new scanner, which we introduced in our last newsletter, is now available to all. You are welcome to scan printed material for scientific use on the new Bookeye 5. Scanning thick books is made much easier with this device. Just turn the pages... and you can remove scanned fingers. A USB flash drive is required to save the scans.

It has again been possible to use the individual workplaces in the library. Our reservation form can be used for this purpose. If there are free places - and there are almost always some available - spontaneous use is of course also possible.

When visiting our facility, please still sign up on the list on display.

Our current opening hours are:
Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

We are looking forward to your visit!

Best regards
Your BIS Information Team

Contact: bis.erdsystem@we dont want spammpimet.mpg.de

In all buildungs, corridors and public places at the MPI-M it is obligatory to wear a medical face masks (FFP2 mask /surgical mask).

FFP2 masks can be collected from Mr. Hosenberg's office (room B110). If you cannot meet him in person, please write an email to henning.hosenberg@we dont want spammpimet.mpg.de and 3 masks will be put in your mailbox.

The parent-child room can be used in compliance with this hygiene and safety measures:

Seminars and meetings are usually to be held virtually.

The presence of the CIS and Geschäftszimmer (GZ) staff will be reduced without significantly reducing the service.

Opening hours GZ:
Monday to Thursday till 3pm
Friday till 2pm

Please make appointments with CIS via help-it@we dont want spammpimet.mpg.de if you need direct support.
Geschäftszimmer, teamgz@we dont want spammpimet.mpg.de is also still available for your inquiries.

Business trips in Germany should only be carried out if absolutely necessary. The approval is the responsibility of the respective head of department. For business trips abroad, which must be questioned even more critically, it is also necessary to report them to the crisis management team of the general administration of the Max Planck Society.

Entry requirements, regulated by The Federal Ministry of Health:
Regulations for persons entering Germany in connection with coronavirus SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 (pdf)
 

Entry requirements from new areas of  "variant of concern” and “high incidence areas” must be quarantined for 14 days without respite by testing.

Information on the designation of international risk areas:
New “areas of variant of concern”, “high incidence areas”, “risk areas” and regions that are no longer considered as risk areas:
https://www.rki.de/DE/Content/InfAZ/N/Neuartiges_Coronavirus/Transport/Archiv_Risikogebiete/Risikogebiete

Further information can be found on the re-open EU pageof the European Union.

The vaccaniation can now be offered by the company doctor of the Max Planck Institute for comparative and international Private Law at Hamburg. You'll get further information by email.

Employees who wish to be vaccinated should continue to make their own arrangements for vaccination appointments at the vaccination centres and/or with their general practitioners, the prioritisation situation is nullified.

The NDR has published a very well prepared information page on the subject of vaccination in several languages:
https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/hamburg/coronavirus/Informationen-zum-Impfen-in-verschiedenen-Sprachen-,impfen458.html

In principle the MPI-M is not allowed to host visitors or guests for the moment.