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Re: COVID [was: Re: DebConf 25 Daily announcements - 2025.07.15 - Daytrip information && DebConf Day 2]



Le 2025-07-19 12:44, Ian Jackson a écrit :

managed a nearly-zero case rate without seriously impeding the event,
(despite for example a play party taking place at BiCon 2023).

Both events are not really comparable: that event above was only 3 days long, while the incubation period for current strains of SARS-CoV-2 is between 4 and 10 days. I'm pretty certain I would have tested negative just prior to starting my travel, and also at registration time. Actually I suspect I got mine from the passenger I took while going to Mont St-Michel, but it could have been on the trains as well.

However I took a look at the COVID policy [1] of BiCon2023, and they have a few things we may want to copy, including:

* Face masks will not be mandatory but those who wish to wear one will of course be respected. * Anyone who believes they have symptoms of COVID-19 or tests positive will be issued with a full refund, up to two weeks before and including on the day of BiCon registration. * Attendees wishing to social distance will be issued with a different lanyard so that others know to leave space around them. * Areas towards the back of the session rooms and lecture theatre will have chairs spaced apart for those who wish to social distance. * Bullying, harassment or unkind comments regarding any attendee’s decision whether or not to wear a face covering will not be tolerated and will be considered a breach of the Code of Conduct.

I also note that they don't say anything about testing positive or having symptoms that appear post-registration, and that social distancing is an option that is (rightfully) open to everybody, not just sick people.

[1]: https://2023.bicon.org.uk/covid-19-policy/

Covid policy is a tradeoff.

It is indeed, and a pretty arbitrary one at that, because many numbers are still all over the place when it comes to risk and prevention.

I hope the next Debconf will have a stronger, not weaker, policy.

For my part I hope that it will have a better and more balanced policy, which may also actually end up being a stronger policy, as I believe the current one is counterproductive (as it actually incentivizes people to not test or take any visible action if they suspect they could be positive). It also currently only cares about COVID, while other diseases (like the flu) are also known to be dangerous, especially to vulnerable people.

I currently believe that it will not be possible to craft a policy that satisfying everyone. I also believe that it would be appropriate for potentially future DebConf attendees to choose one among several candidate policies in a GR-style ranked vote (not necessarily a formal GR, but following mostly the same process). There are some concerns that minorities could be set aside by such a vote, but I believe that the Condorcet method is one of the best at weeding out extreme choices and finding the most consensual outcome.

For example, we should expect attendees to do daily tests. This has a relatively low financial cost.

There was a France-specific issue about this: local regulations made it impossible for the organization to buy RAT kits in bulk quantity at a reasonable cost in this country. At, say, 2.50 € / test (pharmacy price) for 250 people (finger in the air estimate) for 13 days, that would have costed DebConf more than 8k € in tests. That would also have meant around 5000 test kits ending up as plastic and biohazardous waste, something IMHO worth considering. Double to triple that number for masks if they were to be mandatory.

By the way some tests can screen for both COVID and the flu. I think these would be a better idea.

Finally, that Western governments have largely dedided to falsely pretend the pandemic is over should be no guide to our own behaviour.

I don't think that many governments are pretending that it is, and the WHO certainly isn't. But there is this long and chaotic transition to the “endemic” phase going on, which has been inaccurately portrayed by the media as a good thing, and that some wrongfully believe to be imply there would be no more pandemic. This SARS-CoV-2 is definitely not going to become yet another common cold virus anytime soon: dangerous variants may still appear at any time, and surges may still occur.

--
Julien Plissonneau Duquène


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