This is a list of measures that conventions can take to promote Covid safety. We have tried to be comprehensive and to provide multiple alternatives that can be taken. Some of the measures may be difficult or out-of-reach for most cons. Some are measures that we have reservations about. However, rather than give a one-size-fits-all solution, our goal is to explain what is possible so that conventions can make informed decisions and develop a robust, multi-layered policy that works for them and for their attendees.
We recognize that there are unique circumstances that apply to furry conventions. We understand that any policy has a cost in terms of expense, staffing, and attendee satisfaction. We understand that compliance may not be perfect and perfect enforcement may not always be possible. However, one of our tenets at Covid Safe Furs is that all efforts in the direction of greater safety should be encouraged, even if not perfect. Therefore, in lieu of prescribing a particular set of policies as a “recommended standard”, we ask conventions to make the safety and comfort of attendees a commitment and priority and to do as much as they are able to with the resources they have. Doing something is better than doing nothing.
Much of this is modeled after the Public Health Pledge, a campaign to promote safer events in the FLOSS (Free, Libre, and Open Source Software) world. We have also seen conventions in other fandoms (anime, science fiction) making commendable safety efforts. We would like to see furry conventions strive for the same or better standards.
We are happy to work directly with cons to help you develop your policy. Join our Telegram group at covidsafefurs.org/telegram, or message @yatchi.
There are three broad objectives that these measures are intended to accomplish:
Reducing the spread of Covid at conventions is a worthwhile accomplishment, even if infections still happen. We would like to have zero Covid at our conventions, but this is not an outcome that any measure or set of measures can guarantee. Infections can go undetected by tests, and people can spread Covid before they experience any symptoms. Therefore, a convention should not be regarded as having failed if someone tests positive. However, conventions can and should strive to minimize and contain the spread of Covid to the best of their ability. If ten people would have gotten sick had no mitigations been taken, but mitigations reduced that number to five, then the mitigations worked, even if they didn’t work perfectly.
Mitigations also serve to make people who are concerned about Covid more comfortable attending and participating. Many people have attended parties or gatherings with no mitigations where nothing bad happened because no one with Covid was present. This does not make it irrational to be concerned or to not want to take unnecessary risks, because there is no way to know that Covid was not present until after the fact. Some people are particularly vulnerable to severe outcomes from Covid, or otherwise simply want to avoid infection. Mitigations can help lower the risk to a level these people find acceptable. They can help them continue to participate and feel included in the activities and communities they love. They create an environment where they know their safety and comfort is prioritized, and that they will not be excluded or ostracized for choosing to protect themselves. Inclusivity means Covid safety, and Covid safety is an important way for the furry community to uphold its inclusive values.
Definitions
We encourage the furry fandom to be Covid-conscious and work to make our conventions more Covid-safe for the health and comfort of not only the Covid-cautious, but for all members of our community!
No tool is perfect; every tool can fail. There is no single tool or combination of tools that can guarantee zero Covid infections at a convention. However, when multiple layers of protection are used together, the likelihood of all of them failing decreases significantly. The “Swiss cheese model” is a depiction of this - every slice of Swiss cheese has holes, but if you stack multiple slices, the likelihood that a hole remains uncovered decreases.
Therefore, cons should make use of as many layers of protection as is practical. One layer of protection can make up for when another layer of protection is not available. For example, if a fursuiter has difficulty wearing a mask, then an outdoor space is a good risk-lowering opportunity to fursuit.
Certain measures, particularly masks, are reliant on the willingness of attendees to comply. While cons have the authority to enforce their policies, they may not have the resources to do so perfectly. On the other hand, from an infection control perspective, partial compliance with a policy is still better than no compliance at all.
Covid Safe Furs believes that all efforts in the direction of greater safety should be encouraged, even if they are not perfect. This applies to policy enforcement as well. We believe that a stronger policy that a con makes a good-faith, best-effort attempt to enforce is superior to a weaker policy. Moreover, enforcement is not the only means by which a policy is enacted. Policies help to set expectations for the community, and communities can reinforce policies on their own.
It is common, and understandable, for conventions to state that they adhere to “CDC recommendations” or those of “local authorities”. However, Covid-conscious communities, including Covid Safe Furs, are essentially founded on the premise that official guidance is inadequate for slowing the spread of Covid and for creating safe, comfortable, and inclusive environments for their members. It is less than the bare minimum for keeping people safer.
We will illustrate with two examples. When the CDC lowered the isolation period from 10 days to five days in 2021, it was not in response to any scientific development - it was known that many people remained infectious after five days - but to a request from the CEO of Delta Airlines. In 2024, the California Department of Public Health lowered the isolation period for Covid-positive people to a paltry one day if there is no fever. (Do we think people even get over colds that quickly?)
We think it is obvious that these decisions had nothing to do with good science or public health, but with allowing businesses to force employees back to work or deny them sick pay. A convention that knowingly allowed someone who tested positive to come back to the con after only one day would be rightfully excoriated for doing so. Citing official guidance would only serve as a scapegoat to deflect the blame onto; it would not change the fact that allowing an infectious person back into the con is irresponsible and reckless.
Covid Safe Furs believes that a true commitment to Covid safety and inclusivity requires conventions to go far above and beyond official guidance. We hope the recommendations that follow demonstrate what this can look like.
Policies should be written clearly and posted prominently on a convention’s website. They should also be communicated throughout the registration process, through social media, and other con communications, and this should be done on a regular basis. Ideally, every attendee should know exactly what the policies are and what they need to do to comply.
It is a common occurrence for people to register and show up for a con without giving any thought to what the con’s policies around Covid are. The result may be an argument, an attendee being turned away, or a policy being bent. Not only is this inconvenient for the con and for the uninformed attendee, and an undermining of the policies if they are overlooked, it also reveals a disconnect between what Covid-cautious attendees expect to see and what the actual behavior of other attendees ends up being.
By communicating policies clearly and regularly, expectations can be set for attendees about how they should behave, as well as what they can expect from their fellow attendees.
This is a matter of fairness, as people rely on the policies given when making plans to attend a convention. Changing or canceling plans because promised safety measures were taken away is disruptive and costly. People may also feel pressured to go with their original plans anyway, even though they may feel uncomfortable or unsafe doing so. A generous refund policy is helpful and itself a good safety measure [1.4], but we don’t believe it fully addresses the fairness issue here.
We recommend promising that if policy changes are necessary after registration opens, these will only be to make the policies more strict, not less strict.
If policies must be relaxed, this should be done before registration opens.
Some attendees who start feeling sick may feel tempted to stick it out and stay at the con. One reason they might do this is the thought of letting the money they paid for registration go to waste. A generous, no-questions-asked refund policy can help to reduce this temptation. Cons can offer to help attendees understand how to get refunds or credit from hotels and airlines as well.
While there is a lot to learn about Covid safety (as one can do at a Covid Safe Furs panel), cons can still play a part in some basic education. Key topics that are easy to communicate include
We also want to draw attention to two major misconceptions that cons often have, and that they can help correct.
The first is that “social distancing” is significantly protective, especially when based on the arbitrary “six feet” guidance from 2020. Due to the airborne nature of Covid transmission, “six feet” can only do so much, especially in indoor environments where Covid can collect and persist in the air. Cons should work to spread people out and avoid crowding [8.1, 8.2], but in crowded situations, masks will provide much more benefit.
The second is that washing or sanitizing hands prevents Covid - these are ineffective due, again, to the airborne nature of Covid transmission. Hand washing should still be encouraged, just not as a Covid mitigation. [11.1]
Covid Safe Furs believes that high-quality, well-fitting N95 masks are the single most effective tool for Covid mitigation we possess. We are simultaneously aware of the challenges that they pose with regards to people who have stopped wearing masks regularly.
A general mask requirement is highly effective at controlling the transmission of Covid as well as other respiratory diseases.
It is common to give exceptions in which masks can be removed, for example while actively eating or drinking, or while presenting or performing. Such exceptions do introduce a risk, as infection does not need to take long and Covid does not care why you removed your mask. However, an expectation that most people will be masked most of the time is still highly beneficial.
Another commonly given exception is when a certain distance away from other people. We think this comes from misconceptions about how Covid is transmitted. Even an empty room can result in infection if a Covid-positive person was recently present in the room.
Mask types
While surgical masks and cloth masks are better than nothing, they are significantly inferior to N95 masks (or masks of similar standards like KN95, KF94, FFP2, etc.). While we support requiring high-filtration masks, we understand that there are barriers, especially when most people are unfamiliar with N95s and may not be aware of how to wear them properly, or may not be aware of where to buy them and how much they cost. A compromise may be to allow all types of masks while encouraging N95s, educating people on their benefits and on the drawbacks of other types.
Cloth masks are especially favored by furries for their printed designs, but we think they should be discouraged if protection against Covid is the priority. A compromise may be to encourage those who wear cloth masks to wear N95s underneath, but this combination may be less protective than an N95 worn alone.
Masks and fursuits
It is possible to fursuit while wearing a mask, but many fursuiters find it difficult or impossible and may refuse to do so. Needless to say, a fursuit is not a respirator mask and provides little to no protection to the fursuiter or to those around them. Additionally, a fursuit can affect the way a mask fits and can compromise its effectiveness, although the mask will almost certainly still be better than nothing.
We recommend not exempting fursuiters from mask requirements, but understand that this can be difficult. Part of our ongoing work is figuring out how to construct fursuits to be more accommodating of masks. The alternative is to apply other layers of protection, such as ventilation or using outdoor spaces.
If a con can only require masks in one place, that place should be the dealer’s den. Dealer’s dens are often the most crowded part of the con and are often located in poorly-ventilated rooms. Dealers must sit in them all day, speaking to customers at close distance while hundreds or thousands of strangers pass through, and they may not be able to leave the den to eat or drink unmasked. As a result, dealers are subject to a higher risk of being infected with Covid or other respiratory diseases. Moreover, getting sick can put them out of work - the dealer’s den they rely on for their income may end up threatening it.
The dealer’s den is a place of work and business. Safety protections there should reflect workplace safety standards - workers are entitled to safe working conditions, and so are the dealers in the den.
A high-quality, well-fitting N95 mask offers real protection from infection, far superior to that provided by surgical or cloth masks, but many people are not familiar with them and may not have them on hand. One of Covid Safe Furs’ regular activities at cons is giving out N95 masks for free and educating people about their usage. If a con is willing to provide masks, it is probably better prepared to distribute them than we are. We’re happy to cooperate and contribute here.
Masks must fit well to provide full protection, and not every mask will fit every face effectively and comfortably. Providing multiple models can give people the opportunity to find a model that fits and protects them better.
If a con does not have a blanket mask requirement, it may still allow and encourage individual dealers and panelists to require their customers or audiences to wear masks. Empower dealers and panelists to assert their preferences and to turn away people who are not wearing a mask. Providing consistent signage for mask-required spaces can help.
This sets expectations and models good behavior for attendees. People are more likely to wear masks or to comply with requirements if they see others doing the same. This includes people who want to wear a mask but do not always feel socially comfortable doing so.
While it would be more prudent to ask people who are displaying symptoms to go home, they may object that it is “only allergies”, which may or may not be true; there is no way to know until after the fact. A compromise is to ask people who are coughing or sneezing to wear a mask. This contributes to both the safety and comfort of others. It is uncomfortable to be next to a coughing person, especially when you have no way of knowing why they are coughing. It is at least a little less uncomfortable if they can keep their mask on.
If an attendee does not normally wear a mask, masking for about five days before the con reduces their chances of unknowingly bringing Covid into the con. Crowded airports, airplanes, and trains are also a common source of infections, so attendees should be especially encouraged to mask while traveling.
Communicate that wearing a mask as often as possible is the best way to protect oneself and others during the con, and that it is especially important to wear one in crowded situations like the dealers’ den.
A good guideline for promoting mask etiquette is to ask people to mask whenever they are near or speaking to someone else who is wearing one. Attendees should also be reminded to not question, make fun of, or exclude people who are wearing masks, and that this should apply in private spaces such as room parties as well.
The Covid vaccines have done an excellent (but not perfect) job at protecting against death and severe illness, but they do not stop transmission and they do not eliminate the risk of long Covid. Protection from vaccines wanes over time, and old vaccines may not be as effective against new variants. This means that people must stay up-to-date on vaccines for the best protection.
Covid Safe Furs recommends that all people who are eligible stay up-to-date on their vaccines, and we support cons that choose to make this a requirement for attendance. However, we also understand there are barriers that can make it difficult to require the latest vaccines. One example is irregular records that are difficult to verify, now a prevalent problem in the US. Another is differences in vaccine availability for people visiting from different countries. In light of this, we don’t have a simple answer for how to shape a requirement, only advocating that it should be as strong as is feasible for the con to enforce.
Examples of rules include:
We believe that even a bare minimum vaccine requirement (i.e. initial series only) is better than no requirement at all.
It takes about two weeks after receiving a vaccine for it to become fully effective. Cons should therefore encourage attendees to get their required vaccine at least two weeks before the con. However, it can be argued that allowing people to get their required vaccine closer to the con is still a public health benefit (“better late for the con than never at all”).
Some point out the relative ease by which unscrupulous attendees can forge vaccination documents. We believe this does not cancel out the public health benefit of a vaccine requirement in keeping the majority of attendees up-to-date. We believe that most furries are honest and are willing to get up-to-date to attend a con. Many people fall behind simply because they were not informed that new vaccines are available, or because it is inconvenient enough that they don’t get around to it until given a reason to.
It is common to allow medical or other exemptions to vaccine requirements. As always, when one layer of protection is not available, we encourage the use of other layers of protection to make up for it.
A con can still encourage attendees to get the latest vaccine even if it does not require it. This can be done for the flu vaccine as well as the Covid vaccine. Examples of incentives include badges, stickers, or a chance to win a free or upgraded registration.
Cons can ask attendees to affirm that they have not experienced any symptoms of Covid within the last 14 days.
If an attendee is displaying signs of illness, cons can ask them to leave the con space. This should be explained as part of the con's policies. A generous refund policy is helpful here [1.4].
Attendees should be encouraged to test before, during, and after the con.
Attendees often post their test results publicly on social media, particularly before and after the con. Beyond providing information about those individuals’ conditions, useful to those they have been around, it helps encourage others to test as well.
A con can promote a hashtag (e.g. #ANE2023CovidTest) to create a centralized place for results to be collected and browsed.
Since not everyone uses Twitter or other social media and not everyone will post their results, this should not be taken as a complete picture of the situation. However, it still provides some insight, and anything that gets more people to test more often is a good thing.
Unfortunately, rapid tests are less affordable and plentiful than they were earlier in the pandemic, and some attendees may find it a burden or inconvenience to procure their own tests. Cons can choose to fill in this gap by providing tests to attendees directly. This does not necessarily mean purchasing one or more tests for every single attendee. Covid Safe Furs gives out tests, but we usually have and give out far fewer tests than masks. Nevertheless, there is always some demand, and giving out free tests can encourage people who would not have otherwise tested to do so.
It is possible for cons to track positive cases themselves. An informal way can be to monitor social media (especially if a hashtag is being used [5.2]). A more formal way can be to ask people to report cases directly to the con, or to send attendees surveys after the con ends.
Cons can use infection reports to inform attendees of potential exposures - i.e. asking the infectious person where they have been, and attempting to inform those they were in contact with anonymously. If the con is still ongoing, con staff can ask or require those contacts to isolate, to test, or to use additional caution.
The count of how many positive cases occur at or after a con is potentially useful data, although it must be interpreted carefully. There is an element of chance - a con with few safety measures may end up with few or no infections, and a con with many safety measures may end up with many infections. Thus, a case count may not be a good way of evaluating the effectiveness of a policy in isolation. However, we think it is still useful to keep attendees informed of roughly how widespread Covid was at the con they just attended.
There are some events that require proof of a negative test to attend. Even informal gatherings of friends and family may have everyone take a rapid test beforehand. Some events require daily testing. Some provide on-site molecular or PCR testing, which is more accurate than rapid tests, but is expensive and likely out of reach for most furry cons.
A major issue is the cost, delay, and sensitivity of different test types. Namely, a laboratory PCR test is more likely to detect an infection early, but it is expensive (especially now that the testing infrastructure that existed at the beginning of the pandemic has largely been dismantled) and it may take a day or more for the results to arrive, and a person may get infected while they are waiting for results. On the other hand, an at-home rapid antigen test produces results quickly, but has a significant chance of failing to detect an infection if taken too early.
If tests are required, we think it is better to allow rapid tests but require them to be taken soon before the con (morning of or day before). The delay of PCR testing is a significant disadvantage, despite the greater sensitivity. A negative PCR test does not count for all that much if it's several days old.
Sometimes negative tests are required as a stopgap for people who have a medical or other exemption from a vaccine requirement. The same caveats above apply.
Holding an event outdoors can make it dramatically more Covid-safe. While it is not impossible to transmit Covid outdoors, it can be over 100 times less likely, depending on the particular conditions of the outdoor space. While many hotels have few to no outdoor spaces, those that do can provide valuable environments where Covid-conscious attendees can feel safer and more comfortable. Outdoor spaces are also a good option for fursuiters who have difficulty with masks.
Problems with “outdoor” shelters
Note that the value of outdoor spaces for Covid safety is that airborne Covid particles are blown away by the wind and not allowed to collect. If an “outdoor shelter” has walls that impede airflow, it is blocking the very thing that reduces the risk of Covid transmission outdoors. The degree to which this occurs can vary; for example, a structure might be built with four walls but also large gaps that allow some airflow, making it superior to a fully enclosed environment, but inferior to a deck or patio that is fully open on two or more sides. Unfortunately, venues like hotels and restaurants often represent sealed tents or plastic rooms as "outdoors", but these are little better than fully indoor spaces in terms of reducing Covid transmission.
Photo shoots, meetups, and some types of panels, games, and performances are good candidates for being held outdoors. Suitable A/V equipment is nice to have, but is not required for every type of event. Some cons even have rooftop or poolside dance stages, complete with bars. Selecting suitable venues [9.3] facilitates this.
Roofed shelters, heaters, lighting, seating, tables, decorations, food and drink, music, landscaping, pools, and other attractions can all encourage people to spend more time outdoors, particularly if they can compensate for less-than-ideal weather. Selecting suitable venues [9.3] facilitates this.
Dining options at and around conventions are often limited, especially when it is inconvenient to go far. In some locations, it is difficult to find restaurants that offer outdoor dining. Food trucks are one way for cons to fill this gap, and can make for a very attractive dining option if there is a good place to eat with seating, tables, etc. It may also be possible for hotels to provide catered food outside.
Understanding the airborne nature of Covid transmission allows us to take measures that address indoor air directly, which can have a dramatic effect on infection control.
While this is often not an option in many venues, it should be taken advantage of when it is. Opening doors and windows allows fresh air to come in and dirty air to come out, reducing the amount of Covid particles that may build up in a room. Fans can be positioned strategically around doors and windows to increase airflow. Building HVAC systems can sometimes be dramatically effective, but they must be configured properly to do so.
CO2 levels are a proxy measure for how much air exhaled by people in a room is being retained. A low CO2 reading (under 500 ppm) can reassure people that conditions are less risky in a room due to good ventilation. A high CO2 reading can alert people to use additional caution and/or take steps to improve ventilation or deploy filtration.
Movie theaters in Japan and office buildings in Europe have displayed their CO2 readings for occupants to see. Crowded areas at a convention, such as the dealer’s den or the dance floor, are good candidates for this type of monitoring.
Instead of continuously monitoring a stationary location, portable CO2 monitors may be carried around the convention to monitor conditions in different places at different times.
Air filters can remove Covid particles from the air. Both commercial and homemade/DIY air filters are viable options, with tradeoffs between noise, cost, convenience, and other factors. Air filters must be sized adequately relative to the size of the space they are deployed in, as an undersized unit will only be able to clean the area immediately around it, and less effectively. If possible, it is better to deploy multiple smaller units throughout a room than to deploy a single unit with the equivalent filtration rate.
When noise is not an issue, as is the case in many con spaces, homemade box filters known as Corsi-Rosenthal boxes are by far the most cost-effective option. They can be assembled quickly from box fans, duct tape, and furnace filters available at hardware stores. Fursuit lounges frequently have fan racks used for drying fursuits - these can easily be modified to serve a dual purpose as air filters.
When fan noise is a concern, high-end Corsi-Rosenthal boxes built from computer case fans are effective and very quiet.
Some dealers bring their own air filters to have at their tables. Providing power outlets facilitates this.
This is particularly relevant in places like the dealers’ den. Timed entry tickets or capping capacity are ways to limit crowding.
Elevator management is a challenge at most cons, and long lines for elevators force people to wait in crowded areas.
Adequately-sized venues allow people to spread out more, reducing the risk of infection.
Some venues have surprisingly good HVAC systems that can draw lots of fresh air, even in crowded conditions. (An interesting example is casinos which allow smoking.) Doors and windows that can be opened are desirable. High ceilings can also be helpful.
CO2 monitors [7.2] are a useful tool for evaluating how much fresh outside air an indoor space is getting.
A high-quality outdoor space is one that is convenient, comfortable, and attractive for attendees of any level of Covid caution to spend time in, or that the con can customize to make so [6.2]. Examples include lawns, gardens, courtyards, pools, verandas, landscaped areas, and rooftops.
Less high-quality outdoor spaces are less attractive as hangout spaces but are still valuable to Covid-cautious attendees if they are accessible and can facilitate eating, drinking, and taking breaks from continuous mask wearing. These are generally the same types of areas that smokers use. These can include entryways, parking lots, and balconies.
Efficient elevators reduce waiting and crowding, and therefore reduce the risk of infection.
Some venues do not allow their stairwells to be used except for emergencies. This is a disadvantage because stairs are often a safer alternative to elevators due to having much less traffic and being much less enclosed. Consider negotiating with the venue to allow staircases to be used by attendees during the con.
Streaming events online or incorporating VR can allow people to participate from afar.
Some hotels are equipped to broadcast events on a hotel TV channel. This can provide an option for attendees to enjoy an event without having to leave their room.
Cons frequently state they are “monitoring the situation” without being clear what they are referring to, or stating what actions they would take in response to what conditions. Official case counts are no longer an accurate measure of community levels of Covid because they only count laboratory tests; at-home tests are now the primary way most infections are identified (if they are identified at all), and their results do not get reported anywhere. The most useful remaining metric is wastewater Covid levels. Cons can monitor them and, in response to a local or nationwide increase, increase the mitigations they deploy.
Hand washing should by all means be promoted as beneficial for other reasons, but it has little to no impact on Covid, which is overwhelmingly transmitted via the air. Putting out hand sanitizer is not an effective Covid mitigation and must not be considered a layer of protection.
Cleaning and disinfecting surfaces is beneficial for other reasons, but it has no impact on Covid, which is overwhelmingly transmitted via the air.