Camps preparing for Burning Man this year are taking the extra steps to establish policies for fellow campers and visitors to their camps. Everyone is buzzing about the things you need to be ready for when hitting the dust. Burning Man put out a policy statement in their blog stating their position.
The biggest elephant in the room right now is Covid. The current strain is causing havoc in the world right now but thankfully the serious nature of the infection is reduced that, many people have received the vaccine. Not to make the situation sound less than it is, but it is important we honor our own care and the safety and health of our community.
- Be up to date on Covid vaccinations and be prepared to show if asked for it*
- Take and show a negative over the counter Covid test before heading to the burn*
- Bring up to 4 over the counter tests with you. Camps are working on policies to handle surprise positive tests*
- thank you queer camp leads from AstroPups, Gaylactic Village, Future Turtles and more.
*these are not Burning Man policies, but camp leads are talking and sharing policies on how to approach these health issues facing all of us right now.
Monkeypox
There seems to be a lot of mystery surrounding the vaccine. One of the biggest ones is where to get it. Slowly those resources are opening but, they are extremely slow. Here are some resources that might be useful for people looking for anything they can find. The CDC has some guidelines.
- General MP Guidance: https://sf.gov/information/monkeypox
- MP Vaccine sites and availability: https://sf.gov/information/monkeypox-vaccine
- Community-maintained Monkeypox Info hub (more nationally and internationally relevant) https://www.monkeypox.fyi/
- thank you Eric Borosmo
“Compelling data from monkey and human studies suggest a single dose of the vaccine—produced by Bavarian Nordic and sold under three different brand names—solidly protects against monkeypox, and that the second dose mainly serves to extend the durability of protection.”
– Science.Org
There are still mixed reviews by professionals about the viability of the single dose theory. This article is not offering any facts, medical advice or knowledge of these issues. Use the resources in our community and talk to your leadership about the steps they will take for your community, camp, or other group well-being.
Camps with Policies
Astropups, according to Russ, will be releasing a new policy next week we will post here. According to Russ: “What’s in it? Guidance for our campers for (Before the Burn, Travel to Playa, On Playa, and Return Travel, as appropriate) with regard to Covid19, MPX, Consent, STI, and Food Handling.” “Note: we are requiring everyone to be vaxxed for C19, and are encouraging (and assisting where possible) MPX vaccination.”
Mystopia folks have a very flushed out policy guide they are leading with and have published <click here to see in google docs<. Accrording to James: “Our goal is to keep rapidly spreading infectious issues to a minimum. While we are concerned about COVID and MonkeyPox, the regular stomach flu and common colds are of concern and actually more common. A LOT of symptoms can feel… well… just like Burning Man, so pay attention to yourself and others. Checking in on campmates is a huge component of camp health.”
