Tellus Science Museum COVID19 community update

March 13th, 2020 – 4:00 PM

Tellus Science Museum Press Release – 

The evolving worldwide coronavirus crisis has led us to make decisions to ensure public safety while continuing to provide access to the Museum. To protect the safety of our members and visitors in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, our preventative measures now include the closure of our hands-on areas and cancellation of our public programs and events. Gem Panning and Fossil Dig are already closed while we sanitize and take extra measures to maintain your safety. Beginning Saturday March 14, we will close the Collins Family My Big Backyard and the Planetarium. We will assess the situation continuously and decide when it is safe to reopen closed areas and resume our schedule of public programming. We believe there is minimal risk in keeping Tellus open for everyday visitation after these measures and invite you to visit so we will remain open during normally scheduled hours unless additional information to the contrary is received. We are taking the following steps to help mitigate the situation and minimize the possibility of infection in and around the facility: Management is actively monitoring the situation and is staying up to date as more information on the virus becomes available. Museum staff are to focus on personal health with an emphasis on well-being (staying home when sick, covering when sneezing), personal hygiene (including frequent handwashing), and immediately reporting any positive COVID-19 test results or contact with others who test positively. Housekeeping staff is wearing gloves and they use hospital-grade disinfectant to frequently clean restrooms, surfaces exposed to the public and staff, and spills including bodily fluids should they occur. In addition, housekeeping is taking extra measures by wiping surfaces such as door handles and light switches more frequently and leaving disinfectant longer on surfaces before wiping. Extra hand-sanitizing stations have been ordered for placement throughout the Museum. Additional signs asking people to wash their hands for at least 20 seconds are posted in all restrooms. Signs have been placed at the front door asking patrons who are not feeling well to please not enter the facility. Restroom facilities are available for frequent handwashing. Tellus Science Museum has a reputation for cleanliness and it is our goal to maintain these high standards as a measure to protect the public. Please check our website for up-to-date information about the Museum. Thank you for your continued support of Tellus while we all weather this crisis.