Susan McClain, Director of NASA LaRC’s Office of Procurement, requested that the following updated COVID-19 requirements from Deputy Director Dave Young be shared with LaRC Contractors Steering Council members.
Effective Friday, March 4, NASA Langley will update masking and testing requirements in accordance with new guidance and metrics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that categorize the level of COVID-19 community risk as high, medium, or low.
Currently, the COVID-19 Community Level for Hampton is low. Consistent with CDC guidance, therefore, all NASA badged personnel – vaccinated or not – entering and working on center do not have to wear masks or provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test. The current policies for visitor attestation and testing remain in place pending further guidance.
Mask wearing is left to each individual’s personal preference. Many people will choose to continue to wear masks, and those choices should be respected. However, masks are not required. Individuals who are immunocompromised should check with their physicians to determine the need to wear a mask.
At this time, we remain in Stage 2 of the NASA Framework for Return to On-Site Work and this change does not impact the current center maximum occupancy level of 50%.
We are working to remove and replace outdated signage from work areas.
The new CDC metric, found at CDC COVID-19 Heat Map, considers three key statistics:
- New COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 population in the past seven days
- The percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients
- Total new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past seven days
We will continue to communicate updates and information as they become available.