In-Person Meetings in the Age of COVID-19

Video conferencing is great – and I suspect we will be using it more and more even after we get through the current crisis. That said – in the same way that not all jobs can be done remotely, not all meetings can be done that way indefinitely. At some point – probably before a vaccine is available but when R rates are down – physical meetings of some kind will be needed so there will need to be some thought about how to safely hold them.

I’m deliberately using the word meeting to differentiate it from an event or gathering since – at least in my opinion – event and gathering imply a larger scale, less controlled attendance. Events and gatherings will be, we can assume, much further down the road. But meetings – which for the purposes of this piece are invite-based, agenda-driven functions for work or organisational reasons – may well be needed sooner and they cannot be arranged or managed as they used to be.

Everything must now be arranged with an added awareness of COVID-19. This is the fact that underpins everything you, as a meeting or event organiser will do: There is a risk that attendee might – unwittingly – expose others to the COVID-19 virus. Clustered exposure can lead to hot spots and localised spikes – and for meetings where attendees come from any distance, broader spikes.

So, these are some steps you may wish to take:

Before the Event

• Is this meeting necessary? Can it be replaced with a virtual meeting or postponed until a later date.
• If an in-person option IS necessary, keep things as scaled down as possible
  1. maximise space to ensure social distancing can be maintained
  2. cut down schedule so attendees are together for as little time as possible
  3. minimise attendance so that as few people are at risk as possible
• Find a location that contributes to risk management: is there a location that they can reach without use of mass transportation or with as little exposure to it as possible?
• Complete a risk assessment for the event – which can be sent to attendees once it is finished and would let them know what had been done and what will be done to ensure health & safety
• Check with local authorities about local restrictions such as mask requirements, room capacity, etc.?
• Develop a preparedness plan to prevent the virus spread at your meeting. This might include:
  1. keeping up to date on COVID-19 circulation stats in the area
  2. written advice sent out in advance to all participants reminding them that if they feel ill or anyone in their household is ill, they should not attend
  3. gathering full contact details for all participants in advance so that they are available for the public health authority should anyone become ill
  4. altering public health and health care authorities of the planned event
  5. ordering sufficient tissues, hand sanitizer and masks for all participants.
  6. drafting a response plan should someone becomes ill with symptoms actually AT the meeting – including, but not limited to, addressing issues such as where would they be isolated, how will help be accessed, how will cleaning resources be deployed and how will others be impacted.
  7. provide contact details or a health hotline number that participants can call for advice or to give information.
  8. consider identifying attendees in advance who have conditions that put them at higher risk of serious illness (older people, those with particular chronic conditions, etc.) and advising them to take additional precautions or suggesting they opt out of the meeting if possible.

During the Event

• Set up:
  1. place reminders and signs about social distancing best practices at strategic points.
  2. eliminate physical paper sign in if possible. If not, ask people to use their own pen and not a shared supplied one.
  3. outside the entrance, you may want to put a sign asking people to go through doorways one at a time, pausing to allow distance to be maintained.
  4. provide dispensers of alcohol-based hand rub prominently around the venue – in particular, you will want a hand sanitizing station outside the meeting room
  5. have a supply tissues on hand (individual travel pack size are best for distribution and mean no one is sharing boxes of tissue) as well as closed bins for disposal.
  6. instead of assigned seats, sent up a one-way system upon entering meeting room and ask people to fill in from the furthest seat from the door to the closest, reducing the movement of passing other attendees on where they want to sit. Leaving the room can be done in reverse. When setting up room, try and leave plenty of room for people to pass in front or behind the table properly distanced in case they must leave in the middle of a session.
  7. maximise ventilation in space by opening windows and doors if and when possible.
  8. if the space isn’t on the ground floor, consider limiting the number of people allowed in the lift at the same time.
• If you are considering the option of a thermometer check upon arrival, it certainly won’t hurt anything but it is worth noting that temperature checks don’t detect people who are infected but asymptomatic or those taking fever-reducing medication.
• Provide a briefing (preferably both in presentation and handout form) on the COVID-19 measures that organisers have taken as well as reminding participants about hand washing, hand sanitiser and about covering their faces if they cough or sneeze.
• If anyone does become unwell, follow your response plan.

After the Event

• Retain contact details of all participants for 3-4 weeks in order to assist public health authorities in tracing those exposed to COVID-19 if necessary
• Follow up with participants soon after the event, asking all attendees to let you know should they develop symptoms so you can take the appropriate action, letting others and public health know
• If, during follow-up, it appears that someone at the meeting has isolated as a suspected COVID-19 case, let all participants know as soon as possible. They should be advised to monitor themselves for symptoms for 14 days. If they start to feel unwell, they should stay at home and contact the relevant public health authority.
• Review effectiveness of plans and adjust accordingly if needed.