DebConf25 COVID handling debrief remote meeting report
Dear DebConf Teams members,
You will find below the report of the COVID handling debrief meeting.
Thank you to all those who attended and participated, especially the
French members as a national strike occured on the same day.
---
# 2025-10-02 debrief meeting report
This meeting was agreed to by the DebConf Team IRC meeting on Tue, 23
Sep 2025
and was announced on Mon, 29 Sep 2025 on the `debconf-team` mailing-list
[1].
Reminders were issued on IRC channels.
[1]: https://lists.debian.org/debconf-team/2025/09/msg00013.html
## Agenda
1. Before the event
1. Discussing and adjusting the policy
2. Getting supplies (masks tests etc)
3. Preparing procedures and logistics
2. During the event
1. Briefing attendees
2. Distributing tests and masks
3. Catering to sick people
4. Enforcing policy
5. Improving air renewal in rooms
6. Keeping score
## Meeting notes
The meeting started on time and lasted for about 55 minutes.
Ten persons participated to this meeting, including Andreas Tille (DPL)
and
Steve McIntyre for the Community Team. The meeting wasn't recorded.
Despite the
additional difficulty of being scheduled on the same day as a national
strike
in France [2], several DC25 local team members managed to attend which
was a
pleasant surprise, and their contributions were appreciated.
[2]:
https://www.snes.edu/article/interpro-mobilisation-massive-2-octobre/
### Feedback poll summary
We started with a summary of the feedback poll. 7 persons answered the
questions. The feedback could be summarized as:
- most team members expected COVID to be an issue
- COVID policy and procedures were discussed, but there are wide
divergences
about what team members remember from these discussions
- preparation and equipment weren't satifying
- it is difficult to spot people with COVID symptoms among attendees
- some volunteers/staff were approached by people complaining about
other
attendees not wearing "appropriate" face masks
- nobody had to ask an attendee to leave the venue; most
volunteers/staff would
not be really comfortable doing that, but would still do it if
necessary.
[more details are available in [the feedback poll report][3]].
[3]:
https://salsa.debian.org/jpd/dc26-hsg/-/raw/fc31b2d7acb21f26546d8501ef490dac55d6e6a9/20250825-feedback-poll-report.md
### Before the event
#### Discussing and adjusting the policy
The current policy was established in 2023. It was reviewed in 2024 and
2025
but left unchanged. The reasons given for the statu quo were:
- a lack of time to change the policy
- real-word logistics: it looked hard enough to support the policy as
written.
#### Getting supplies (masks tests etc)
Supplies in bulk quantities were only sold to health professionals in
France,
and tests sold only in pharmacies. Santiago tried to contact pharmacies
remotely, but was asked to go in person. Apparently ordering can be
easier in
other countries (e.g. Germany) but it was too late to organize the order
and
delivery.
The same issue occured with masks. N95/FFP2 (especially quality ones)
are hard
to find locally on the spot. It would have been easier to find them
online with
more lead time (or through ["Mask blocs"][4] — local organizations
sharing
inventory).
[4]: https://maskbloc.org/
#### Preparing procedures and logistics
This event was officially a "private event" according to French law. In
a
public event enforcement might not have been possible under French law
(due to discrimination / health information privacy concerns).
What to do with medical issues not really discussed beforehand. The
local team
relied on the venue security staff to handle emergencies.
People weren't expected to follow rules by the letter but the goal was
to make
it possible for people to isolate, and provide food to them.
Logistics of handling isolation was discussed during the weekend before
the
event, but not at the scale that was eventually needed during the event.
One
room (accommodation) was set aside for COVID isolation during the event.
Air quality was considered, monitors were procured before the event and
set up
in the venues.
### During the event
#### Briefing attendees
COVID concerns were mentioned during the opening talk of DebConf, one
week into
the event. Otherwise only the policy to be agreed to for registration
(months
before) mentioned them.
The first known and announced COVID case was on day 5 of DebCamp (before
that
talk).
There was also a short mention of COVID concerns in the (very long)
welcome
e-mail sent one week before.
#### Distributing tests and masks
Some masks were available at the badge desk (entrance of the venue).
Tests were
mostly only available at the front desk (back of the venue), because of
their
limited quantity.
The way tests were distributed at previous events was more satisfying,
mostly
because there were more of them. Distributing tests and masks in swag
bags
might make sense depending on availability.
#### Catering to sick people
Breakfast was an issue and people were not able to request what they
wanted for
a meal, or the information was lost.
Volunteers appeared pretty late in the process. The local team was
rushed to
make the event happen.
It was easier to get volunteers once it was possible for them to skip
the
queue, we should make it clear(er) that this is the policy.
Communication between volunteers and registration team (about who needs
food
delivered) was dysfunctional for a few days until the information was
put in a
pad, which isn't great in terms of privacy (versus one person's head,
which
isn't great in terms of bandwidth).
A better balance needs to be found between privacy vs. information
sharing
within the team. And the "privacy policy" needs to be written and
available to
attendes. E.g.: for organisation purposes, a dedicated set of the orga
team may
need to know if you are COVID-positive; and they are available at a
dedicated
communication channel that is required for logistics.
#### Enforcing policy
Enforcement is difficult because symptoms are hard to spot and
differentiate
from other common symptoms e.g. hay fever.
Enforcement may not be necessary as long as procedures and logistics are
clear
and easy to follow.
It is desirable to find ways for people with Covid to be included in the
event.
Consistency matters.
There aren't many events that last 2 weeks, so there aren't many
examples of
suitable policies elsewhere (e.g. how do you handle whether someone
should be
allowed to join again after symptoms/contagiousness subsides).
#### Improving air renewal in rooms
Doors were kept open, which improved air quality significantly in
amphithéâtres
(the most problematic rooms at this debconf) but was still not great.
Smoking next to doors was an issue: communication about appropriate
smoking
places outside was not clear (and signs were possibly misplaced).
Networked CO2 meters would be great. There is some potential for a
hacking
project with the current meters that only display.
Solutions for air filtering were not explored but are not too expensive.
The
equipment can also be borrowed from other organizations.
#### Keeping score
An anonymized test reporting system would be a nice addition.
Attendees would probably report to the staff anyway, so outbreaks would
still
be known without this system.
---
Cheers,
--
Julien Plissonneau Duquène
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