WASHINGTON—The FCC has laid out the basics of its strategy to prevent the transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19) among its organization, including restricting travel.
“Given the ongoing increase in COVID-19 cases, both internationally and in the United States, the FCC has put in place new measures to protect the health of its staff,” the FCC’s public notice read.
Among the efforts the commission is taking to prevent transmission of the disease is the suspension of non-critical FCC domestic and international travel until further notice. It also said that it is suspending any FCC involvement in non-critical large gatherings that involve participants from across the country and/or around the world.
This could include FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s previously announced appearance at the 2020 NAB Show, which is scheduled to take place April 18-22 in Las Vegas. TVT's sister publication B&C has reported that no decision has been made on Pai's involvement at the show.
In addition to travel restrictions, the FCC is limiting access to its FCC facilities, specifically to individuals—visitors or employees—who in the past 14 days have been in any country that have been assigned a CDC Level 3 Travel Warning. To date, those countries are China, Iran, Italy and South Korea.
The FCC says it will continue to monitor developments of COVID-19 and will implement additional precautions or relax current precautions if warranted.
