EJC Fall Occupation - Covid Plan!

 

Hey friends! Welcome to our covid plan, where we are working together to set the conditions for an action which is as covid-safe as possible. We want this occupation to align with our movement values, which include working to keep community members in New Haven/at Yale safe in the pandemic. As we know, that means limiting the number of participants, staying distanced, and wearing masks. This doc aims to make our measures more clear and detailed, and to lay out a Plan B (dispersal) and Plan C (withdrawal) if the action seems like it might cause any risk of transmission, so we can all keep each other safe! See this document for the same information.

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Plan for COVID safety

1. Participants will be split into two cohorts of <=10 people separated by a significant distance, ~15 ft. In total, no more than 20 people will participate in the occupation at any one time.

2. Within each cohort of 10 people, a spacing device will be used to ensure that participants stay within their own 150sq ft space, or within 8-12 ft of distancing.

3. All participants must wear masks at all times. Masks must be tight fitting and high quality (e.g. no bandanas). Organizers will bring high quality surgical masks to distribute if necessary. Participants must wear masks at all times during the occupation, including during any singing or chanting.

4. No food or drink will be consumed during the occupation.

5. Participants have signed up to occupy for 2-hour chunks. Participants will use home bathrooms and will not plan on using bathrooms near Cross Campus. 

6. All participants will be signed in by an organizer. The organizer will record names and phone numbers so that, in the event of an outbreak, this list can be given to contact tracers.

7. Finally, the above guidelines will be enforced by two rotating COVID marshals, who will be student organizers who understand the COVID safety plan in detail.

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Enforcing this plan

1. COVID marshals will monitor for proper distancing and mask usage, and correct anybody not following the guidelines. Each marshall will focus on their particular cohort.

2. If anybody refuses to follow the guidelines, COVID marshals will ask them to leave. 

3. If someone comes with the intention to participate and they did not previously sign up, assuming proper mask usage and capacity, they will be added to the signup sheet and placed in one of the cohorts.

4. If anyone gathers outside of the planned occupation space in relation to our occupation (e.g. trying to participate, follow programming, clearly engaged and not simply doing their own thing), and they are not following social distancing measures, COVID marshals will ask them to either follow distancing measures or disperse.

5. If a group of >10 people gathers outside of the planned occupation space in relation to our occupation, regardless of social distancing they will be asked to leave and sign up to come another time.

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Plan for withdrawal from Cross Campus if necessary

If a condition in (1) is met, and (2) fails, we will activate the plan outlined in (3) to efficiently withdraw from Cross Campus.

 

1. Conditions for withdrawal:

   1. Participants in the occupation are consistently not following guidelines. This refers to an issue occurring throughout the day, that is, COVID marshals not being able to enforce guidelines as expected

   2. A crowd gathers outside of the planned occupation space. This refers to more than 10 people in a group who we are not able to disperse. 

   3. People from outside the occupation are consistently interacting with the occupation in a not socially distanced way throughout the day. 

2. Before withdrawal, COVID marshals will attempt to disperse any gathering outside of the occupation and correct people not following guidelines.

3. Withdrawal plan

   1. If COVID marshals and other organizers present find they are unable to disperse a crowd, or if they agree that withdrawal is necessary for any other reason, they will first inform everybody present that they will be withdrawing from the space and moving the event online. 

   2. Organizers will take equipment such as hand sanitizer, extra masks, clipboard for signups, and technological equipment and place it in their bags.

   3. After all items have been stored, each cohort will leave in separate directions. The cohort closer to Sterling Library will exit toward Beinecke Library, and the cohort farther from Sterling Library will exit toward College Street.

   4. Once removed from Cross Campus, participants will exit toward their homes and the event will reconvene online.

   5. If withdrawal occurs on the first or second day of the occupation, there will be a discussion that evening about the safety of reconvening on Cross Campus the next day.

   6. Participants will be informed of this plan prior to occupying the space, so they are ready to efficiently withdraw if necessary.

 

Contact information for some student organizers:

Alex Cohen — 646-895-2843, alex.cohen@yale.edu

Josie Steuer Ingall — 917-855-7246, josie.steueringall@yale.edu