Internal Announcement / CONVID-19
To NMPHIL Staff and Musicians:
As a public institution, the New Mexico Philharmonic is taking seriously the global spread of COVID-19.
The safety of our patrons, musicians and staff is our first priority. We also wanted to let everyone know that for the time being the performances of the New Mexico Philharmonic will continue as planned.
We have identified different stages of communication and will adjust our messaging as the situation evolves and new information becomes available. In this initial stage, we are focusing on prevention, facility preparation, and communication.
PREVENTION:
- If you’re sick: Please notify us if you have a fever, cough, or respiratory issues before you come to work.
- Travel policy: We recommend reconsidering any personal travel plans you may have in the coming weeks. Please refrain from going to countries that have been placed under the Center of Disease Control’s (CDC’s) level three and level two travel restrictions. (Currently China, South Korea, Italy, Iran, and Japan.)
- Let us know your travel plans: If you must travel, we ask that you alert Christine Rancier if you are on the management team or Shea Perry, Personnel manager if you are an orchestra member, of where you plan to go and please be aware of the public health situation in those locations.
- Self-quarantine: If you have been to a location where you feel you may have been exposed to the virus, or have had interaction with someone who is symptomatic or diagnosed as having contracted the virus, please contact the personnel manager to discuss self-quarantining at home.
- Shared food policy: Until further notice, please do not bring in food to share or put out leftovers from events.
FACILITY PREPARATION:
- CDC signage: We will place signage regarding prevention measures in all restrooms. We will work with Popejoy and other venues to do the same.
- Custodial planning: We are developing protocols for enhanced sanitizing, particularly around commonly touched surfaces such as doorknobs, handles, and elevator keypads. We will work with other venue operators to do the same. We already know that Popejoy and the National Hispanic Cultural Center have plans that are being implemented regarding sanitation and coronavirus prevention.
- Keep doors open where possible to avoid use of door knobs
- Sanitizer stations
COMMUNICATION:
- Front of house considerations: We are taking steps to provide front of house staff, including volunteers / guild members, with training around minimizing contact to prevent the potential spread of virus.
- Public statement: We will post by Friday the NMPHIL’s general statement for patrons on our website and will include it in emails to ticketholders. We plan to increase the prominence of communication since the virus reached New Mexico.
- FAQ: We have created a FAQ for staff to be able to address patron concerns.
See below for our current public statement and FAQ for patrons, which will be revised and updated as needed. If you have any questions or thoughts as we move forward, don’t hesitate to reach out to any of us.
Thank you,
Marian Tanau
