By August 24th, most of the team had returned back to campus for hybrid classes to begin on August 26th. Since the beginning of August, students have been required to review symptoms daily for COVID-19 through a service called Dr. Chatbot and prior to moving in on campus, every student was required to get tested. Since we moved in, Baja was fortunate in that we are one of few organizations on campus that is approved to do in person work. Thanks to Professor Muir, we have been able to run our usual 9am-5pm shop hours, while maintaining member safety through our COVID safety plan. With this plan in place, we can have up to 10 people in our shop and 8 people in the Hopeman Basement. In terms of PPE, every member is required to wear a mask and safety glasses at all times. We are cleaning tools in between use and wiping down common touch points (door handles, light switches, etc.) twice a day. We have also been taking advantage of working outside (while we still can) by setting up tables, tents, and tarps. By optimizing our space outside, we can efficiently get work done inside and outside. We are also taking advantage of indoor campus space by using the computer lab in Gavett 244 where we can have up to 27 students working while maintaining a safe social distance. So, even though this semester looks a lot different so far, thankfully, Baja has been able to retain some level of normalcy in the midst of all the chaos.
