COVID-19 SAFETY 

We know it's annoying, but we are trying to find a good balance between this event being fun, and making it as safe as possible. Our safety concept of UC10 in 2020 already had been quite sophisticated, but we will further improve on it.

Please make yourself familiar with the concept below. Please only join the party if you are willing to adhere to these rules. Most importantly, you need to agree to have rapid Covid-19 tests taken during the party.

In the past the focus of UC had been to be as crazy (and sometimes dangerous) as possible, the aim of UC11 first and foremost is to enable sceners to meet in the safest possible environment for the first time in a long while again. It still will be crazy, promised.

Daily rapid testing

We will be taking daily rapid tests from all participants. These will be included in the entrance fee.

If you are arriving from a high-risk area, and/or if you are traveling with high-risk transport (Airplane), you will have to bring or do a PCR test. These will not be on-site, but there are test-stations at Frankfurt Airport and and on the way to Bingen.

Wear a mask

When dancing, lining up at the Infodesk or approaching another scener, you have to wear a mask. Only if and once both of your clearly have agreed on it, you can take off the masks. Dancing requires the usage of a FFP2 mask, which we will be providing for free. Some competitions will also require masks.

Contact tracing

You need to provide full contact data when registering. You need to inform us in case you are showing symptoms after the event. Four weeks after the party all personal data will be deleted.

Bring warm clothes

To reduce aerosols furthers, the party tent will not have walls, just a roof. This ensures very high air ventilation. But it also means it will be cold during the nights.

Sleep in your tent

There is no shared sleeping hall /tent at UC. Unless you are sleeping in a hotel or your car/caravan, you'll need to bring your own tent.

Arrive & leave healthy

Do not join if you are showing any symptoms - stay home and watch the stream instead. Try to reduce risks before and while travelling. Do not join us if you are going to see vulnerable non-vaccinated people within 10 days after the party.

AIRBORNE DROPLET TRANSMISSIONS / THE NON-TENT TENT

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

FACE-TO-FACE TRANSMISSIONS

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.

SMEAR INFECTIONS 

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.

WATCHING OUT FOR EACH OTHER

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. 


CONTACT TRACING

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:

  • Following the guidance lines - if the App shows a possible contact, consult a doctor for the test.

  • If the doctor recommends self-isolation. stay home.

  • If a test is taken on you, and the (negative) result does not arrive prior to you departing, stay home.

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:

GET THE CORONA WARNING APP

SLEEPING IN A TENT

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 


MANDATORY ANTI-CORONA RULES

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.

  • When approaching persons the first time to closer than 1,5 Meters, wear a face mask. You then say "Masks off?". The other person may reply "Masks off!", and both of you can take your mask off. If one of the two replies "Pants off!" instead, the Masks stay on. In a group of people one person replying with "Pants off" means everyone keeps their masks on without any arguing. If you can't settle on that, please politely socially distance without any bad blood.


  • Many of us are desperate to finally be able to hug people again. But people who may not feel comfortable receiving a hug may be hesitant to push you away or say so. Due to this: Prior to hugging a person, ask "Hug life?". If the other person replies with "Hug life!", go ahead, if the person replies with "Thug life!", instead make a gangster pose with your face mask on and don't hug.


  • Dancing to DJ sets always requires wearing a mask. A surgical mask works better than home-made ones, as the first allow you to still breath properly, allowing bad-ass dance moves. Free surgical masks are available at the info desk and next to the stage at all times.


  • When using the bath rooms, please disinfect all surfaces you are going to touch TWICE. First before touching things, and then, when leaving, everything you have touched. This provides a double protection against people who forgot to do so before you, and to those who forget to do it after you.


  • All competitions where multiple people are on stage require everyone on stage to wear a mask. Taking part in the Seaworld Graphics Compo requires wearing a water-proof mask. We will provide water proof masks to those who don't have one. Please make sure any hand-made mask does not provide a risk of drowning yourself in case your head gets under water. Make sure you can quickly remove it in such a case. Also if you are using a mask in water, keep in mind you need a second one to use when back on land while the first one is drying up again.


  • You never touch other peoples stuff without asking. You always desinfect every third-party equipment you have touched without the need of someone reminding you to do it. There are sanitizer spray cans everywhere around you. Use them.


  • The desinfectants and sanitizers we use are according to the WHO receipe, and environmentally friendly. However, their intent is to kill. We don't want any of this to end up in the grass or pond. The spray cans are no toys.

STILL GOT CONCERNS?

Should you still have concerns or ideas on how to further improve our security concept, please let us know.

CONTACT US

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