Top five facts about COVID-19 Event Planners should know.

Five Facts About COVID-19 Event Planners Should Know 

Perhaps no other industry took as big of a hit as the event planning industry. Within just a two-week time period in March, events of all sizes were canceled. From the massive Coachella Music Festival to The Met Gala to award shows to regional conventions to the local chamber networking coffees, events were put on hold.

And, in many places, events are still not allowed to happen on any scale, even those with just over 10 people.

That said, there are plenty of locations where events are starting to come back in some fashion, usually smaller events where CDC guidelines can be enacted. The massive music festival may be a while from taking the stage, but you can hold events safely.

Here are five things you should know.

1. Legal liability is still a question mark. 

While states are working hard to enact legislation providing businesses with some sort of protection, the legal ramifications of COVID-19 have not fully played out. If you hold an event, you still could get sued if someone thinks they were infected at your event. You may not be guilty, but fighting a lawsuit is not easy or cheap.

Consult with your attorney on how you might be able to protect your business legally and document every step you take to keep people safe.

2. All the “tricks” do work. 

We are all tired of hearing about masks and social distancing, but they have proven to work. Ensure your guests wear masks when they are not eating or drinking – and require guests to have masks, not gaiters or bandanas. Spread out groups and seat tables with half the capacity, keeping social bubbles, like families, together. Limit the attendance to half of the venue’s allowed capacity.

By following these guidelines, you will do a better job than most at keeping your guests safe.

3. Outdoor events are always better than indoor events.

Studies have shown repeatedly that indoor, closed rooms create a high probability of spreading COVID-19 among guests. This is why so many cities have passed legislation allowing for restaurants to start non-traditional outdoor seating.

So many outdoor venues can be non-traditional venues, like a picnic on your local ball fields or a wedding on a lakeshore, consider pushing your clients to enjoy the scenery. 

4. The vaccine is not the end of COVID-19.

While getting as many people to take the vaccine as possible is critical to stopping COVID-19’s rapid spread, it does not mean COVID-19 will be eradicated. In fact, polling has shown that up to 40 percent of Americans do not trust the vaccine at all, leaving a significant number of people unvaccinated.

Many event companies, such as Ticketmaster, are going to start requiring the vaccine as part of admittance into the event. However, smaller events cannot afford to require this and many weddings do not want to force Grandma to stay home because she doesn’t want the vaccine.

For the foreseeable future, the safeguards suggested by the CDC are going to be in place and considered the best practice for events.

5. A testing routine for COVID-19 will not break the budget.

No one wants to get a test swab stuck up their nose while entering an event. Luckily, the full PCR test for COVID, where that happens, is cost-prohibitive for widespread use, particularly by an event planner.

At Medek Health, one of the nation’s leading providers of COVID-19 test kits, we believe testing should be a tiered process, starting with our FaStep COVID-19 Antibody Tests. 

With those tests, which cost less than a per-person charge for a breakfast buffet, you can take one prick of blood from your guests and determine if COVID-19 antibodies are present within a few minutes.

While antibody tests do not diagnose COVID-19, they are a good start in the process and can indicate – with 97 percent accuracy – if someone has an active COVID-19 infection.

If you want more certainty, you can spend about twice as much on a COVID-19 antigen test. These rapid blood tests are approved to be used for travel restrictions and to show a clean bill of health.

By working with Medek Health, we can help you plan your event in a safe manner to greatly reduce the chance of spreading COVID-19. Contact us to learn more about customizing your package.