We have held our Go club online (OGS of course ) since the start of the pandemic. We would like to now resume in person meetings. Understandably, there is some concern about how to do so safely in terms of Covid while keeping the measures practical, e.g. is disinfecting each individual stone too much? (IMO yes)
So I was wondering if anyone has any experience of this and can offer any advice / recommendations please?
Current ideas:
Wash hands before, alcohol gel during as needed
Maybe wash stones before / after, or just quarantine them
Stop worrying, because it ain’t gonna get any better
Only allowing vaccinated / recovered people or people with a negative test from the same day is how most things happen here right now, and keep a list of attendance so that possible infections can be communicated swiftly. There are little restrictions beyond that.
Its impossible for surface to have enough virus particles to have any danger to vaccinated people. So just allow vaccinated only and stop doing this useless washing.
I circulated these guidelines among the regulars in my club, but we haven’t adhered strictly. Certainly players have been staying home if not feeling well, and we bring masks for use during play. But the regulars are all vaccinated, and the space we play in is socially distanced and has a huge vaulted ceiling, so we haven’t given Covid much thought beyond the basic measures.
Seems exaggerated for me too. A couple of time in a year if you are very strict on cleaness maybe because It’s quite a job to do that. For glass stones.
With an adequate installation (buckets, towels and place to wash and dry, a way to clean later the towels too.) i won’t be against washing the stones+bowls before use in the covid context. Will take some time but doable. Is the place used by go players only?
My experience is that since there are no special government recommendations any more you don’t need to do anything different to whatever you did in the before times.
Some people might not be delighted and choose not to attend so if this is a significant number or you are keen to do more then I would have thought good ventilation is the top priority followed by mask wearing.
I think that sitting facing someone else for an hour or two is the biggest risk. I don’t think the stones pose much danger unless someone coughs on them. So you could just remind people of normal winter hygiene (catch it, bin it, kill it or whatever the slogan used to be). My kids naturally cough/sneeze into the crook of their elbows now for example.
I wouldn’t want to be the one asking people about their vaccination status which is why I think government dropped that idea…
I agree Disinfecting individual stones is a step too far. In the end, some measures will be genuine safety measures, while others will have negligible impact on actual safety but may help to ease the anxiety of any members who are particularly nervous. The trick is to find the right balance between genuine safety, making people feel safe (even if it doesn’t make a real difference), and not making the measures too onerous / burdensome. Asking people to wash their hands is no effort for leaders or regular members and probably a good idea even without coronavirus, so I’m happy to do that. However, washing stones takes a lot of time and space for negligible benefit, so I do not support that idea.
Same here. I did it once. It took ages. Never again unless there is a catastophe (e.g. coffee spilled in the bowl or something )
Location to be determined. Before Covid, we used a study room in the library, but ventilation is very poor so that’s out. We are currently trying to find a suitable alternative location. It is almost certain to be a shared space somewhere at the university.
True, but
This applies to us so we are trying to find a balance as noted above.
Likewise!
Conclusions
Bringing all the above together, my current thinking is:
Request people to do the following but do not insist or check as it is ultimately their choice:
Be vaccinated
Self-test in advance
Do not attend if feeling unwell
Wash hands before play and use alcohol gel during play as required
Wear masks unless exempt
Lead by example by ensuring all committee members do all of the above
Provide gloves for anyone who wants to use them but do not even request as this is probably overkill
Provide a well ventilated space
Ensure games are socially distanced from other games
Some differences
1 ok
2 ok
3a put in water and mix a bit. No need wait 30mn
5 lie them on a towel and dry them yourself with. Same no need to wait
6 i do that twice so no need to separate
Before throwing away water don’t forget the bowls
A way to manage towel is to ask each players to bring one (or their own cleaned set if they prefer )
) since the start of the pandemic. We would like to now resume in person meetings. Understandably, there is some concern about how to do so safely in terms of Covid while keeping the measures practical, e.g. is disinfecting each individual stone too much? (IMO yes)
Disinfecting individual stones is a step too far. In the end, some measures will be genuine safety measures, while others will have negligible impact on actual safety but may help to ease the anxiety of any members who are particularly nervous. The trick is to find the right balance between genuine safety, making people feel safe (even if it doesn’t make a real difference), and not making the measures too onerous / burdensome. Asking people to wash their hands is no effort for leaders or regular members and probably a good idea even without coronavirus, so I’m happy to do that. However, washing stones takes a lot of time and space for negligible benefit, so I do not support that idea.
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