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NordGen’s Measures for Reducing the Spread of COVID-19 is Ongoing

Date: 2020.08.11

Right now, it’s harvest time at NordGen. Valuable seeds are collected in our fields and gardens, dried and eventually becoming a part of the Nordic seed collection. But the work done in both field and office is still affected by COVID-19. Until further notice, NordGen will hold on to the earlier announced procedures, which are aiming to reduce the risk of spreading the virus.

As the Nordic countries’ genebank and knowledge center for genetic resources, NordGen is a place where we work hard in greenhouses, fields and laboratories but also take part in international collaboration, arrange seminars and workshops and lead internal and external projects. But 2020 has been a different year for us, as for so many others.

“Already in the middle of March, we decided to take actions as the new Corona virus started to spread in our geographical area. We cancelled all duty travels and decided to ban external visitors to our main building in Alnarp. In short, we did everything to reduce the risk of spreading the virus. Now, almost six months later, we can see that we have managed well this far. But we can’t relax just yet”, says Lise Lykke Steffensen, Executive Director at NordGen.

Seed Orders Handled as Usual

During the coming months, NordGen will still cancel all travel plans and visits, continue with the extended cleaning procedures and rules for social distancing as well as recommending those who can to work from home. Everything to secure that our staff won’t catch the disease and to make sure that the Nordic seed collection stays safe. However, all seed orders are handled and distributed as usual – although now in the new information system Nordic Baltic Genebanks, which was launched before summer. All other work is also done much like normal, although with certain adaptions.

This fall, NordGen Forest was planning to celebrate its 5o years anniversary. The original plan was to highlight the anniversary during the annual forest conference, which now has been cancelled. Instead, a minor digital celebration will take place. Same goes for many other seminars, workshops and meetings – they will be converted to digital versions.

“Although certain parts of our work will inevitably suffer from the current situation, we can also see some advantages. The last few months have forced us to explore the possibilities of the digital world and we can already look back on several very successful online meetings. Now we’ll work together to get through this situation and reach the other side as a stronger organization”, Lise Lykke Steffensen says.