This is a living document and will be updated as needed.

Last updated: January 2025

Our approach

We will always abide by Portuguese laws at a minimum for the physical convention. We have chosen to add some stronger mitigation recommendations. We reserve the right to revise our policy to be more restrictive if dictated by new circumstances.

This policy does not relate solely to COVID-19. SMOFcon is an international event and has attendees from around the world. This policy therefore includes the transmission of communicable diseases such as influenza and the common cold.

Please be mindful that members of our convention have weak or compromised immune systems, and that these may be adversely affected by illnesses such as the ‘common cold’. What constitutes a mild illness for one person may have severe repercussions for others.

Policy

We strongly recommend that every member is vaccinated and boosted against all major communicable diseases for which vaccines are available to them.

We will not require proof of any vaccination at the convention, given vaccine allergies and the differing availability of vaccines internationally to those who have not yet been vaccinated.

We strongly recommend that every member tests daily for COVID-19 and flu if they show any relevant symptoms. Additionally, we recommend testing for Covid and flu before the convention and being mindful of the infectious periods for both illnesses, as these are significant given the higher number of immuno-vulnerable or at-risk individuals within the attending community.

We strongly recommend that every member is vaccinated and boosted against all major communicable diseases for which vaccines are available to them.

We will not require proof of any vaccination at the convention, given vaccine allergies and the differing availability of vaccines internationally to those who have not yet been vaccinated.

We strongly recommend that every member tests daily for COVID-19 and flu if they show any relevant symptoms. Additionally, we recommend testing for Covid and flu before the convention and being mindful of the infectious periods for both illnesses, as these are significant given the higher number of immuno-vulnerable or at-risk individuals within the attending community.

We will not require proof of a negative test at time of badge pickup or for spot checking.

We strongly recommend that every member regularly and effectively washes and dries their hands. When this is not possible, we recommend that hand sanitiser is used.

We strongly recommend that online and on-site members get sufficient high-quality rest, hydration, and nutrition for their personal needs.

Please do not physically attend the convention if you or any member of your household have recently tested positive for COVID-19, influenza or any other communicable disease or illness, or if you have any new and potentially contagious symptoms which have begun within the previous week. Such symptoms include coughing, sneezing, sniffling, running a fever, or having digestive issues.

We may ask members who attend the convention when unwell or recovering in a way that may adversely affect others — for example with a persistent cough, within the infectious period of an illness, or behaving in a way that might put others at risk such as unmasking — to isolate or attend online. We are aware that other medical conditions such as asthma or allergies may cause some of these symptoms, and will be mindful of this when making a decision.

We will enforce the Code of Conduct in all applicable situations, including when another member‘s choices about disease mitigation do not match yours. This includes, but is not limited to, mitigations by masking, social distancing, or physical contact. For example, you may not encroach on someone‘s space who has asked you to stay 2 metres away, nor may you yell at someone who is not wearing an FFP2 mask. However, we do not have exclusive use of the venue and cannot control what happens in their public areas, including the bars and restaurants.

We will offer what assistance we can to those who are affected by any disease or illness at the convention and need to change their travel plans.

We intend to track reports of COVID-19 from Smofcon 43 for at least two weeks after the convention finishes. Please do not report or speculate upon anyone else‘s COVID-19 status in any private or public forum without their explicit consent.

Policy context

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted that conventions need to be more mindful of contagion as a whole. We need to be thoughtful and deliberate about our responsibilities regarding contagion by actions such as looking at current government policies and discussing situations around mutually-exclusive accessibility requirements. This is why we frame this in the light of disease mitigation across the board.

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the work of previous conventions, particularly all the most recent Eastercon events, in creating this policy. This policy takes account of local recommendations in place at the time of writing.