Ministry of Contagion

Proceedings of the Temporary Provisional Ministry of Contagion

(work in progress ...)

Premise

• Bad news: elevated risk of COVID-19 contagion in and around 2169 Mission
• Good news: hazards might possibly be mitigated via engineering and education

Observations

Hazards

• Unscheduled visitors not wearing masks and/or not maintaining distance
• Stairway air
• High-touch surfaces
• Air inside NB
• Grocery store on 1st floor (and similar elsewhere in neighborhood)
  • No room for distancing
  • People without masks.
• For people emerging from long shelter-in-place isolation:
  • Be aware of urge to engage in conversation
  • Be aware of influence via apparently normalized complacency
  • Possibly less active immune system (?)

Recommendations

• Raise awareness: Visiting 2169 Mission is a risky activity. (Pepper yourself!)

• Initiate scheduled volunteers
  • Agreed-upon protocols
    • Buddy system
    • Limit frequency of visits, consider post-visit quarantine
    • Contact tracing / scheduled followup
• Disallow unscheduled visitors
  • Avoid extended conversation when explaining
  • Refer them to written info (such as this wiki page, etc - a printout or card would be nice)
  • Be pleasant but do not risk the health of self and others to accommodate
    • Any rare exceptions should be discussed first with buddy and others in the space
    • Contact tracing / scheduled follow-up
• Stairway:
  • One person (or buddy pair?) at a time
  • Avoid conversation on the way up the stairs
• High-touch surfaces:
  • Indicate in all possible ways (ie, visual, tactile, audible)
  • Doorknobs
  • Light switches
  • Bathroom
  • Microwave
  • Etc etc etc ...
  • Disinfect all touchable surfaces when arriving as well as before leaving
  • and/or wear gloves (?)
• Air inside NB:
  • Limit amount of time breathing in the space
  • Schedule "free-breathing" breaks
  • Anticipate unmasking
    • ADA accommodation (?)
    • Designated area by window if (non-buddy) others in space
    • Buddy pairs (or "social bubbles" ?) maybe could be maskless by mutual consent (?)
      • recent SF order stipulates okay for "same household" working in area not accessible to public
      • also may be okay if sufficiently distanced
    • Ventilate thoroughly before leaving
  • Technology: vents / air filters / (ionizers? UV?)
• Maintaining distance:
  • Technology: proximity alarm ... ("SIX FEET, ASSHOLE!")
• Grocery store etc: be aware of risk, avoid unless properly (N95 etc) masked.
  • Bring lunch etc
  • NB could (should) provide supplies, snacks, beverages, coffee etc