First Coronavirus Update

​Saturday, February 1st, 2020
Dear Robotics for All Volunteers: 

In response to the United States declaring the Coronavirus a public health emergency yesterday, I wanted to address some concerns regarding the virus. Although the virus has been spreading rapidly in China, at this time it is still a very low risk to the general American Public.

Due to the nature of our work involving close contact with many other students and volunteers, Robotics for All is taking several precautionary measures to keep the risk of spreading and contracting the Coronavirus low. The safety of our volunteers and students is our top priority at Robotics for All and one that we will not compromise. Some of the procedures are also not mutually exclusive to the Coronavirus and will help with preventing the spread of any other virus or disease as well. 
1. Volunteers who have traveled to China within the past 14 days should refrain from volunteering until two weeks after coming back to the United States. Very little is known about the virus but health experts say that it may take up to 14 days to experience symptoms.
2. Volunteers who are experiencing any symptoms shared with those of the Coronavirus (fever, cough, and/or shortness of breath) should refrain from volunteering until 24 hours after all symptoms have subsided. This is best practice even when there is no health pandemic, but even more important now.
3. We encourage you to wash and/or sanitize your hands before and after each class, for your own safety and the safety of the students. If more cases arise in the United States, we will start distributing hand sanitizer and/or disinfectant wipes to our locations.  

In the classroom, we will enact the following procedures.
1. If there is a sink or sanitizer available, encourage students to wash or sanitize their hands before and after the class. As many students touch our equipment, this is to prevent the spread of germs and viruses in general. 
2. Students who wish to take a snack break during the class must wash their hands before and after their break. 
3. Any student visibly exhibiting any sickness symptoms should be sent home. 

While the risk of the Coronavirus is still very low and there is little reason to panic, we are taking every measure possible to mitigate the risk of infection in case the virus spreads further in the United States. We thank you for your cooperation of these new measures.

Best Regards,

Max

Maximilian Goetz
Founder and CEO, Robotics for All, Inc. 
max@roboticsforalleducation.com
(650) 665-9734