Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Updates

In response to the current outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that was first reported from Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019, Charles River has assembled a global team of internal experts who are closely monitoring the COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on employee safety and our business operations. To keep clients informed, we will post updates to this web page.

June 14, 2021 – As infection rates decline and vaccination rates increase in most parts of the world, we are pleased to report that all of our locations around the world have been doing an excellent job of providing a safe working environment while still meeting clients’ needs for research products and services. Given these positive developments, we are continuing to follow the guidance of country public health authorities. This may now include the option to remove face coverings and ease social distancing requirements for fully vaccinated employees at our facilities, along with relaxation of other certain safety measures. Please note, that as we navigate these steps to ease safety measures internally, we are maintaining our policies requiring all visitors to continue wearing face coverings and practice social distancing at our facilities regardless of vaccination status at this time.

Charles River is proud of our track record of being able to remain fully operational across all sites by following the science and public health recommendations since the start of the pandemic. The following practices remain in place as of this date:

Employees work from home when possible
Strict visitor policies remain in place as noted above
Remote audits and virtual facility tours remain available, and we continue to utilize remote study monitoring to support clients who are unable to travel
Restrictions on non-essential international business travel
Enhanced daily cleaning of common touch points (doorknobs, break areas, etc.)
Reminders of good hygiene practices
Physical distancing practices for unvaccinated staff
Requirement for face coverings for unvaccinated employees and all visitors in accordance with applicable government guidance
Employee self-monitoring for illness symptoms
Testing, tracking, and contact tracing of COVID-19 cases
Return to work and self-quarantine guideline documents

Our global and site Business Continuity Plans are active, up to date, and helping our site-based operations, as well as associated logistics and support, to continue to meet our clients’ needs for planned and new projects, including work supporting COVID-19 research efforts.

For the latest business continuity updates, visit our COVID-19 web page. For continued learning, our digital education page has many helpful resources for researchers. If you have any other questions, please reach out to your usual Charles River contact.