With Winterphaze coming up in one week, I’m sure many of you are wondering about how COVID-19 (Coronavirus) affects our plans. In fact, I’ve already received questions about canceling Winterphaze.
I’ve been following the medical and scientific community closely this last week as details about COVID-19, including where it is currently most prevalent, what its symptoms are, and how to take precautions against it.
Based on all available data, it does not appear that COVID-19 has a large presence in Minnesota. The data also makes clear that the highest risk for complications occurs in the elderly and in people whose immune systems are already compromised, or who have underlying health conditions that impact their ability to fight off a virus.
Our Plan
First off, Winterphaze is still on. We are still planning a full schedule of activities for all of you who are participating in the event.
When I and members of our logistics team arrive on site at Miller Castle, we will be doing a sanitizing sweep of the venue, focused on areas that come in contact with hands (sinks, door handles, etc.)
We will also have sanitizing wipes on hand for your use to wipe down your bunk mats and surrounding bunk areas, and for use throughout the weekend.
When we leave the castle, we’ll all pitch in do sanitize these areas again to help keep things clean for the next group to use the castle.
If you develop symptoms during our event, you’ll be asked to leave.
To be clear, the main symptoms of COVID-19 are: fever, dry coughing, fatigue, and shortness of breath. These are the symptoms we’ll be on the lookout for. Other symptoms, such as sneezing, runny/stuffy nose, sore throat, muscle aches, and nausea have not been associated with COVID-19 by the medical community.
Should you consider skipping this event?
If you are sick… stay home!
If you’re not sick, the attendance decision is up to you, and can only be made on an individual basis. Here are some things to consider when making your decision:
- Do you have accurate information beyond the latest media report? Specifically, do you have data from health officials that give you tangible information to base your decision on?
- Is your immune system compromised?
- Do you have underlying health conditions that affect your ability to fight off illness and viruses?
- Do you live, work, or regularly come into close contact with the elderly or people with compromised immune systems / underlying health conditions?
You may have other factors that contribute to your decision-making process. If you’d like to talk more about your attendance at Winterphaze, I’d be happy to talk it over with you via phone call or email conversation. You can find my contact information at the end of this article.
What happens if I decide to stay home?
Our normal cancellation policy is in effect. This means that if you cancel at least 3 days in advance of the event, you can receive a refund for your registration fee or transfer your registration fee to a future event.
If you cancel less than 3 days in advance, refunds are no longer possible though you can still transfer your registration to a future event.
For this event, we are adding the following addition to our policy: if you arrive at the event and then choose to leave due to illness or concern about illness, your registration fee will be transferred to a future event.
What if I didn’t want to read that long post?
In short:
- Winterphaze is still a GO.
- Symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, dry cough, fatigue, and shortness of breath.
- If you are sick, please stay home
- COVID-19 most severely affects the elderly, and people with underlying medical conditions and/or compromised immune systems that hamper their ability to fight off infection
- We are doing extra cleaning before, during, and after the event
- People who develop COVID-19 symptoms will be asked to leave the event
- If you decide not to come, or to leave early, your registration fee can be transferred to a future event
- If you cancel attendance at least 3 days in advance, you can recieve a refund in place of a registration transfer
As always, if you have any questions, you can email me at ben.m@interphaze.org. Also, feel free to give me a call at 651-500-9106 if you’d like to discuss any questions or concerns about the upcoming event.
I hope to see you all out there.
Ben Millard
PS: Here’s the link to the CDC’s guide to COVID-19: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html