Good afternoon, East Kingdom,
With the Board’s most recent decision (https://www.sca.org/news/resolution-to-further-lift-suspension-of-in-person-activity-in-the-sca-as-of-august-1-2021/), as we are now back to events almost as we had previously known them.
Almost all activities which had been limited by the pandemic are back: overnight camping, feasts and dayboards, rattan & rapier practice, etc. See below for the remaining restrictions on what is allowed.
Here are the current requirements for all in-person gatherings of any size (practice, meeting, event — if it’s sponsored by a branch, the following applies):
1. Follow all federal/state/province/local requirements regarding COVID safety. Given the surge in the Delta variant, government requirements might be shifting in the weeks ahead. If you are holding an in-person gathering of any kind in upcoming months, make sure you are up to date on the relevant safety requirements.
2. All attendees must be signed in on a separate roster for contact tracing, with their legal name, and either an email or a phone number. This can be achieved either with pre-registration or a sign-in sheet at gate.
3. All in-person gatherings must display the following wording at gate (and in multiple locations beyond gate if it’s a large event):
Although the SCA complies with all applicable laws to ensure the health and safety of our event participants, we cannot eliminate the risk of exposure to infectious diseases during in-person events. By participating in the in-person events of the SCA, you acknowledge and accept the potential risks. You agree to take any additional steps to protect your own health and safety and those under your control as you believe to be necessary.
4. At this time, the East Kingdom does not have additional requirements. Their Majesties, Their Highnesses, and I continue to urge everyone to wear masks in order to create a safer environment for all and to make it easier for families with young children (who cannot yet be vaccinated and therefore must wear masks) to attend.
Branches are always able to set stricter safety requirements — such as requiring masks — than Kingdom, if they choose. Please keep me posted if your branch is considering this option. The Kingdom Exchequer Council has a fund to aid groups with cleaning supplies — please email the Kingdom Exchequer or me for details.
Restrictions that remain in place at this time:
1. Branch-sponsored in-person gatherings cannot ask about vaccinated/COVID negative status unless required by the private site owner/venue or government officials. If your branch is asked to sign a contract that includes requiring vaccination, please let me know.
2. Branch-sponsored in-person gatherings cannot use any ribbon/button/symbol/color-coded (etc) system for indicating whether the recipient is or is not welcoming physical contact like hugs. Any individual is always welcome to display such a badge, and if any individual wants to make such available to others — away from gate — that’s also fine. As long as the event/meeting staff are not distributing or otherwise seeming to require such badges, they’re fine.
3. Water-bearing in which water is squirted/sprayed/poured from a communal vessel directly into the mouth are off-limits. Bottled water is fine and water in a large cooler with a spigot is fine as long as care is taken that individuals’ drinking vessel doesn’t come in contact with the spigot.
4. Open serving bowls/platters in which participants reach in with their hands to take items (bowls of pickles, orange wedges, pretzels, etc) are off-limits. use serving utensils and/or have staff serve items for better food safety.
In service to the Kingdom,
Medhbh
Kingdom Seneschal