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Wednesday-Saturday, August 12-15, 2020 online

Healthy and Safety

(Last updated: June 6, 2020)

As of June 6, 2020, Heartifacts shifted to a virtual conference. This page is preserved for our historical record and eventual integration into C&S conference sites as policy as C&S aims to be conscientious and intentional about attendee safety.

This document borrows heavily from The Linux Foundation’s 27 February 2020 Novel Coronavirus Update, which establishes excellent practices for health and safety at conferences this year because of the uncertainty of this new virus.

If you feel that any part of this is outdated because of new developments, please contact support@codeandsupply.co or ask in #heartifacts on C&S Slack chat.

Code & Supply, like many community organizations around the world, is actively monitoring public health reports and recommendations from the WHO and the U.S. CDC, as well as Pennsylvania state and Allegheny County Health Departments.

Continuing our reputation of concerns for the wellbeing of attendees, we will continue our common-sense precautions (hand sanitizer everywhere!) and institute some new ones in the face of as-of-yet undetermined properties of the COVID-19 virus.

Recent Travel Policy

Following CDC risk assessments, we are requiring that any attendee who has been to any of these countries recently must have at least 14 days pass between the time they leave that country and the time they arrive at the event. We ask all attendees to self-certify this both prior to the event and onsite upon check-in.

See CDC’s COVID-19 Travel Recommendations and Restrictions for countries currently facing restrictions.

In general, C&S does not issue refunds per its Event Refund Policy. To do our part to combat the COVID-19 outbreak, we relaxed this policy for this event only because of the increased likelihood of domestic and internation travel to the event.

While we will consider refunds as delinated below, please understand that, as a small community organization, refunds can drastically impact our ability to afford to host the event and future events. Please consider donating your ticket to the Scholarship Fund or selling or gifting your ticket instead of asking for a refund.

C&S will refund 100% of registration fees for anyone:

  • who is diagnosed with the COVID-19 coronavirus
  • whose cohabitant or dependent is diagnosed with the COVID-19 coronavirus
  • whose travel is severely impacted or prohibited by CDC advisories
  • who has any concerns about traveling, especially if traveling internationally.

We also ask that anyone planning to attend that feels they may have been exposed to the COVID-19 coronavirus in other travels, or who is generally feeling sick, to refrain from joining us this year for the safety of other attendees.

Safety Measures

Pre-Event

  • We will provide status, policy, and precautionary updates on our event website and social media presence.
  • We will email these updates to registered event participants, as well.

Onsite

  • We will provide plentiful sanitation stations onsite at the event with alcohol-based hand sanitizer, wipes, tissue, and, if recommended by health organizations, facemasks.
  • We will provide signage onsite encouraging attendees to practice good respiratory hygiene and Social Distancing.
  • We will regularly sanitize all surfaces through the event space and communicate with the venues to do the same.
  • We will sanitize speaker microphones between each speaker’s use.

Every attendee should

  • Adopt a no-handshake policy during travel to and during the event.
  • Wash hands frequently.
  • Cough or sneeze into elbows only.
  • Stay home if they are sick or experiencing any cold/flu-like symptoms for their own safety and the safety of others.
  • Seek medical care right away and alert our staff at registration should they begin to experience cold or flu-like symptoms (fever, cough, trouble breathing) onsite. We will have local medical care contact information available for all attendees and can assist any attendee with transportation to a local clinic.

Follow respiratory hygiene practices

  • Covering your mouth and nose with a flexed elbow or tissue (not hands) when coughing or sneezing.
  • Avoid touching your hands, nose, and mouth to avoid transferring germs from surfaces.
  • Discard a used tissue immediately into a closed trash can.
  • Wash your hands frequently with soap and water or an alcohol-based sanitizer right away.

Adopt Social Distancing practices

  • Adopt a no-handshake policy at the event
  • Try to stand a minimum of 6 feet (2 meters) from other people, especially those that may be sneezing, coughing and/or exhibiting cold/flu symptoms.

Note that the WHO is currently advising against the application of any restrictions on international traffic. Based on the information currently available on the outbreak, the CDC is recommending standard safety practices that should be instituted during any flu season, and there are no US Dept of State Travel Advisories for countries other than China with relation to Novel Coronavirus.

We will continue to regularly check the latest official information leading up to the event and encourage our event participants to do the same.

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