[Coral-List] Request for the Reef Futures 2022 Conference

[Lisa Carne]

Greetings All,

I concur (or at least ask for hybrid/virtual event) and will  not attend Reef Futures in person (although talk accepted) just as I did not attend ICRS 2022 in person (did 2021 virtual talk)-where unofficial reports say almost 50% of attendees tested COVID positive pre, during and post ICRS. Many of my friends & colleagues included!

My health & reduced carbon footprint are both worth more to me than the drinks/socializing/parties. Info and data can be shared virtually.

With respect, open invitation to visit us in Belize where we enjoy open air, a relatively small population even including tourists, and a globally lauded reef restoration site ( and many other sites throughout Belize):

https://implementers.decadeonrestoration.org/implementers/20/fragments-of-hope

We are also currently hosting many regional colleagues & their students and are happy to continue to do so..we are also seeing rising COVID positive numbers here with the new variants and lack of restrictions (in US & Belize), but testing has become very affordable and masking up while not required in all places, is still practiced by many and there is no stigma to common sense precautions here.

Best fishes,
stay safe

Lisa Carne
Executive Director/Founder
Fragments of Hope
Placencia Village, Belize
fragmentsofhope.org
(501) 623-6122




> On Jul 21, 2022, at 11:44 AM, Sarah Frias-Torres via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
> 
> Posting this request here due to a lack of response from the conference organizing committee.
> 
> I formally request to turn the in-person Reef Futures Conference (September 2022, Florida) into a virtual event only.
> 
> COVID omicron BA.5 is now dominant in the USA and in Florida, with R0 = 18.5.
> https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/coronavirus/2022/07/15/covid-cases-spiking-again-florida-4-000-cases-tallied-week/10014319002/
> 
> For comparison, measles (Rubeola virus), the most contagious disease known to date has R0 = 18, meaning one infected person can infect 18 people.
> 
> Holding an in-person international scientific conference in Florida, in September, has the potential of becoming a super-spreader event, bringing pain, suffering, potential long-term disability, and even death to participants and their families, and all other people they make contact with.
> 
> The conference site says they will follow CDC guidance, which basically means, no enforcement of any safety plan.
> 
> A safe in-person conference should enforce mandatory vaccination, daily testing, masking, and air quality (ventilation, filtering, sterilization). However, with a variant so contagious, the safety protocol for in-person attendance should follow isolation hospital protocols, which is not a feasible way to conduct a scientific conference.
> 
> Further, the lack of mask enforcement in most airlines and airports means that conference participants have a high probability of getting infected while in transit, and arriving at the conference venue already infected and actively spreading the virus.
> 
> If the Coral Restoration Consortium is concerned about the safety of conference attendees, then the 2022 conference should be virtual.
> 
> 
> <><...<><...<><...
> 
> Sarah Frias-Torres, Ph.D.
> Twitter: @GrouperDoc
> Science Blog: https://grouperluna.com/
> Art Blog: https://oceanbestiary.com/
> 
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