January 9, 2021
BeachBind December 2020
Safety and Satisfaction Report
COVID Report
We are happy to report that BeachBind 2020 was a safe and successful event. As a result of our collective efforts, we are happy to report that NO COVID-19 cases occurred at BeachBind or developed upon upon return.
We want to thank all of the attendees, staff, and presenters for working so hard to ensure the safety of everyone. We were able to hold an event safely during unprecedented times for those choosing to attend and could not have done it without the collective help and commitment to the COVID safety protocols.
Our staff worked hard to research, create, and enforce safety protocols for the event, as more fully discussed below. The nine-day event had a total of 32 people, including staff and presenters, with an average of 28.44 people at the event per day. The event was entirely outside, and social distancing and masks were required. In addition, a negative COVID test was required prior to travel or entry to the resort. Finally, the resort and resort corridor had zero reported COVID cases due to their very strong protocols (see details below).
Survey Results
In addition, as we do every year, we conducted a survey of our attendees. Consistent with our ongoing commitment to transparency, have shared those results. The organizers read every response and often work to include suggestions made or to respond to the feedback received. We want you to know that “We Hear You!” and that we will continue to work to ensure and improve the safety and satisfaction of attendees.
We are happy to report that, as with previous years, the survey results were overwhelmingly positive. For example, the responses indicated that the attendees were happy with workshops and events, booking and check in processes, the resort, and the staff and presenters. In addition, regarding COVID, all of the responses indicated they felt safer or as safe as at home, half of which noted that they felt safer than at home. The survey results are published here.
Detailed Facts Regarding COVID and Event and Travel Safety:
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Jamaica, which relies on tourism, has very strict COVID protocols and has recently received international awards and acclaim for their COVID efforts (1) that have resulted in zero cases of COVID inside their resort corridor (3). The protocols include:
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A "resilient corridor" where the resorts are located that is heavily locked down and maintains very strict COVID protocol (only 1% of the Jamaican population reside in the corridor). (2) There have been ZERO COVID CASES reported inside this corridor since country reopened its borders to international travelers on June (3,). The event is held inside the corridor, and travelers are required to stay only at the resort. Jamaica has had a total of about 300 COVID deaths and 13,000 cases (.45% of the population) red to 340,000 US deaths with nearly 20 million cases (6.1% of the population)
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Hotel workers received COVID safety training directed by the tourism bureau, were required to wear masks 100% of the time, use hand sanitizer and wash hands regularly, sustained temperature checks multiple times a day, and were regularly tested for COVID
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No entry to the hotel was permitted without proof of a negative COVID test, a temperature check, use of hand sanitizer, and a properly-worn mask. The resort provided PPE to anyone that needed it
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Every traveler to Jamaica had to apply for and receive a travel authorization 5 days before travel that included health screening questions and needed proof of a negative COVID test to travel (4)
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No traveler was permitted to board an airplane to Jamaica without the authorization and negative test results, and therefore, every person on every flight to Jamaica had received a negative test
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Every traveler was screened for COVID-19 symptoms by the health department upon arrival to Jamaica
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Every attendee received a government-issued quarantine order that generally limited travel within Jamaica to the resort and inside the Resilient Corridor
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Limited bookings - The resort was mostly empty (about ⅓ of its capacity), a large part of which were BeachBind Attendees, which were about 28 people on any given day
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BeachBind strictly followed the Jamaican Health Ministry's (4) and Resorts protocols (5), and further consulted with a licensed physician that works with COVID patients daily to develop robust and effective event protocols:
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The entire event was outside (including workshops), and meals were served outside or in a covered, open-air dining room
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Everyone at the resort was required to wear masks everywhere in the resort except while eating, swimming in pools, or on the beach
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Everyone was required to respect and maintain a socially distanced 6-foot "bubble" with anyone that was not their "germ bonded" partner or partners. The bubble rule was held to the same consent standard as typical BDSM scene consent standards. Most attendees formed germ-bonded “pods” of two or three people
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Attendees were subjected to regular temperature checks at BeachBind workshops
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COVID testing was available on-site at the resort, and anyone that felt any sign of symptoms could get immediately tested. The resort also had a block of rooms set aside for isolation on the far side of the resort separate from the guest rooms in use
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The resort placed touchless hand-sanitizer stations and water bottle refilling stations throughout the resort, including at the BeachBind event location, high-traffic areas, and the restaurants
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Travel Facts: Air travel is relatively safe.
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Since airlines have started to require masks, scientists have not documented one superspreading event on airlines. (6, 11)
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TSA has strong COVID safety protocols7
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A person would likely have to be sitting next to an infectious passenger for at least 54 hours to get an infectious dose of the virus through the air. (11) Airplanes are equipped with HEPA filters that catch 99.9% of particles as small as 0.1 to 0.3 microns, so they are effective in filtering the Covid-19 particle, which is about 0.1 microns but usually binds to something larger. So even if someone on the flight is infected, you’re very unlikely to inhale a load of virus that’s enough to affect you. (8) Going to a restaurant is riskier than sitting on an airplane (9)
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Most planes recycle 25 to 30 percent of cabin air. The air being recycled passes through the H.E.P.A. filter which traps virus particles. The other 70 to 75 percent of air is evacuated overboard every couple of minutes, meaning there is new air in the cabin every two to five minutes, depending on the size of the plane. (11) Cabin air is circulated vertically, from ceiling to floor, and refreshed every two to three minutes. Between flights, airplane cabins are scrubbed down with anti-microbial disinfectants. (10)
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The US State Department issues international travel advisories, and Jamaica is almost always at a level 3 or 4 due to crime in certain parts of the country not relevant to the resort corridors. This year, as typical, the travel advisory remained at level 3-4, and is currently at a level 3. Because there was no change and the travel warnings were related to crime in other parts of the country, the travel advisory did not concern any change relevant to travel risk to BeachBind for 2020 as compared to the last four years.
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References:
1Jamaica Wins Top Accolades at World Travel Awards 2020 | Ministry of Tourism (mot.gov.jm)
2Resilient Corridors (visitjamaica.com)
3https://www.loopjamaica.com/content/no-covid-19-case-so-far-resilient-corridors-says-bartlett (December 20, 2020)
4Restrictive Measures (visitjamaica.com)
5Party Safely - Hedonism II https://www.hedonism.com/party-safely/
6https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/10/20/925892185/do-masks-really-cut-your-risk-of-catching-covid-19-on-long-plane-flights ("Freedman looked at all Emirates flights from Dubai to Hong Kong between June 16 and July 5. What he found is quite telling. During those three weeks, Emirates had five flights with seven or more infected passengers on each flight, for a total of 58 coronavirus-positive passengers flying on eight-hour trips. And yet, nobody else on the planes — none of the other 1,500 to 2,000 passengers — picked up the virus, Freedman and his colleague report in the Journal of Travel Medicine")
7 https://www.tsa.gov/coronavirus 8https://www.rollingstone.com/product-recommendations/lifestyle/coronavirus-travel-tips-best-flight-accessories-1056032
9 https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/air-travel-risk-covid-19-wellness/index.html
10 https://www.wsj.com/articles/all-your-coronavirus-travel-questions-answered-11582980999
11 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/25/travel/air-travel-safety-coronavirus.html ("One much-publicized study on flying, conducted by the Defense Department, found that “overall exposure risk from aerosolized pathogens, like coronavirus, is very low” and concluded that a person would have to be sitting next to an infectious passenger for at least 54 hours to get an infectious dose of the virus through the air. There has been no evidence of plane flights causing many super-spreader event")
Please review the full protocol information here
