We are aware that a lot of sceners are scared of going out. Based on scientific studies, we want to minimize each and every risk. After all, fear eliminates fun, no matter if of rational or irrational origin. And we want you to feel safe and have a hell lot of fun.
Scientific evidence strongly suggests that it is much more risky to be inside than outside. This is where Sofas end. We'll explain that later.
Statistically it's extremely unlikely that sceners with an undetected infection will even show up at the location. In Germany all hot spots of Corona infections are amongst people who go to churches, ski lodges or work in meat packing plants. Sceners typically do none of that, and typically also don't have much contact to those who do. But we are not going to argue with statistics here. Statistics just piss people off. We are going to take real action to eliminate actual remaining risk.
Because we have to:
With pretty much all the bigger parties being cancelled, many sceners have been struggling with existing mental health problems, now worsened by the lack of social contacts to other sceners. Turns out, even if you normally would try to avoid real-life social contacts, they appear to be an essential human need, even for super-humans.
Therefore where in the past the focus of UC had been to be as crazy (and sometimes dangerous) as possible, the aim of UC10 first and foremost is to enable sceners to meet in the safest possible environment for the first time in a long while again.
From a perfectionist's standout, what you have seen out there in the "real world" in regards of Anti-Corona security measures often has been half-baked, badly planned and executed.
We are Nerds. We can do this better. Yes, we are able to design an event in a way that it's as close as it gets to absolute safety in regards of Corona virus transmission. Here is how:
Multiple Studies [see below for References] show that if you follow some basic rules, the risk of outdoor transmission is extremely low.
Studies also show that it's much safer to stay outdoor than to share any closed room with anyone. While the past "superspreader" events happening in "churches", ski resorts and in-door carnivals had provided anecdotal evidence, there are now peer-reviewed studies showing that aerosol transmission is a huge thing. It's no longer just about directly spitting or coughing at someone. In a building it takes between 15 minutes and three hours for an Corona aerosol floating in the air to be sucked outside by a ventilation system or float out an open window. And if it's not sucked out at all, it will take a while until the Corona virus loses its potential. How long it's alive as an aerosol is still subject to study, but is believed to be longer than 15 minutes.
It's also now clear that a Corona infection is not a binary on/off thing. The more Corona aerosols you breath in, the worse a Covid-19 infection can turn out.
Singing, running and dancing will make you produce more aerosols. That's what the super-spreader events also had in common.
The key problem therefore is sharing limited amount of air with others. A key aim for sharing air with people therefore is to get that air fully replaced constantly as quickly as possible.
Which obviously is a standard feature of "Outdoor real-life nature".
The facts on this are clear: In one study of more than 7,300 cases in China, just one was connected to outdoor transmission. In that case, a 27-year-old man had a conversation outdoors with a traveler who had just returned from Wuhan.
So, if you'd want to do any event or meet people, and want to minimize risk, it clearly should happen outdoors.
But of course you don't win much by then putting up a huge party tent, even if that already has far better ventilation than any office building could have.
But a tent is not good enough. You should not visit a party tent for long if a Covid-19 infection is a concern to you, and you wish to eliminate final risks.
Due to this, we will not have a regular party tent this year. Instead, we will build a gigantic party "cage", 5 Meters high, and with a total air volume of over 750 m³. At maximum capacity, this means 20 m³ of air per visitor. One long side of the cage will be completely open. The other three "walls" will not use regular tent canvas, but a material that will let 40% of air pass through. In total at normal expected wind speeds this means that all air "inside" the construction will be completely replaced every couple of minutes.
The downside of this of course is that during the nights, it will be chilly. And rain will be aproblem. You will need to pack warm clothing and cover for rain.
Further read:
[1] Easy to read summary: "Coronavirus drifts through the air in microscopic droplets – here’s the science of infectious aerosols"
https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-drifts-through-the-air-in-microscopic-droplets-heres-the-science-of-infectious-aerosols-136663
[2] "Aerodynamic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in two Wuhan hospitals", published in Nature, 27 April 2020.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2271-3
[3] "Identifying airborne transmission as the dominant route for the spread of COVID-19", published at PNAS 10 June 2020.
https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/06/10/2009637117
[4] "Indoor transmission of SARS-CoV-2", 4 April 2020 (not peer-reviewed)
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.04.20053058v1
[5] "Transmission Potential of SARS-CoV-2 in Viral Shedding Observed at the
University of Nebraska Medical Center", published by US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, 2 April 2020 (not peer-reviewed)
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/7/20-0764_article
The distance participants will have while sitting in the "non-tent" working on their productions will be more than the recommended 1,5 Meters, and no face masks will be needed in that scenario.
As it's neither realistic nor fun to keep that distance while dancing, face masks will be required when dancing. We'll be providing free surgical masks that still allow you to breathe normally while dancing. This rule will be strictly enforced by organizers.
Some competitions happening on stage will also require face masks.
For the seaworld graphics competition we will be providing free water-proof KN95 masks.
At the info desk, there will be a huge 50 Liter tank of antiseptic, mixed according to the WHO receipe. This is both safe/non-toxic for the environment, but also kills the corona virus instantly. On every table and at every spot that is touched by multiple people, there will be small spray cans available, which can be refilled at the info desk. We'll also hand out these spray cans for personal use for everyone who wants to help desinfect things. Every visitor may also pick up free hand sanitizers bottles at the info desk.
For the food and drink sales at the Infodesk, we have a process for every step on producing and handing out food to make sure no object is ever touched by two people without desinfection in between. This covers everything from payments to returning empty bottles.
At any time, you may bath in the pond, or use our lake water based showers. There also is a water tap near the info desk to wash your hands if you prefer this over sanitizers.
The remaining risk is direct face-to-face transmissions from people standing too close each other. This would mostly happen due to some participants being too drunk or stoned to remember keeping a distance. We will encourage all visitors to take some extra masks from our supply. If you spot someone in a situation of being too close to each other and clearly not being sober enough to make an informed judgement about it him/herself, you are encouraged to politely offer her/him such a mask. However, if the person refuses and nobody near it has a problem with said person wearing no mask, please socially distance yourself. Be reasonable. Be caring. Be nice.
In Germany a Corona contact tracing app has been launched. It's open source, and according to various reviews it's maintaining privacy and is reasonably secure. We therefore recommend to install the App now, and use it to check if you might be a potential risk to others. If you had been in contact with someone, please consider to do all of the following:
It's very unlikely, it's scary, but it must be said: In case a visitor of UC later reports to have tested positive, we need to notify all participants for contract tracing. Please provide accurate contact information during registration.
Check the website of Germanys official Corona warning app here:
We are aware that most sceners hate sleeping in a tent. It's against our nature.
However, it's really the safest place to sleep in. Unlike in a hotel room, you have full control over the air quality and surfaces.
And these days tents are not that bad.
The tents from Qeedo for example can be built up in 30 seconds. And packing them again also is brain dead easy. And yes, that actually works, and they are great. It's a 110 Euro investment that makes sense even if you assume to never again go outside after the party.
Also, if you want, you can order and have your tent delivered to the orga team inbeforehand. Should you travel by train or plane, there is less stuff for you to carry. We can even store the tent afterwards for next year.
Qeedo website
Normally UC does not give a shit about rules. Cheating is welcome.
But in this case, we do have to make an exception. Here are a couple of binding rules. If you violate them, you will be kicked out of the event. Seriously.
Should you still have concerns or ideas on how to further improve our security concept, please let us know.