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Resolution establishing a pandemic policy for NCTDSA

Whereas the COVID pandemic rages on amid virtually nonexistent and declining public health measures1;

Whereas due to politicization of COVID, lack of political will, and widespread pressure from capital interests to declare the pandemic prematurely over, official channels ostensibly charged with protecting the public, such as mainstream media2 3 and the CDC4 5, cannot be relied upon to provide reliable information and protections, instead minimizing real risks or even spreading active misinformation6;

Whereas lack of public health response makes it incumbent upon organizations and individuals to protect ourselves, each other, and the wider community from the adverse effects of communicable diseases;

Whereas COVID has been shown to cause brain damage and mood/sleep disorders7 8 9, strokes, heart attacks10 11, and long-term immune dysfunction12 in a large percentage of infected people, including vaccinated people;

Whereas the long-term effects of COVID infection and reinfection (“Long COVID”) are not well understood13, but research shows that up to 1 in 3 with COVID are affected14, and possibly more, and that long COVID occurs with some frequency in vaccinated people and mild cases15;

Whereas existing research indicates a relationship between Long COVID and numerous health conditions that strongly affect quality of life16, immunity17, and life expectancy18, some of which may be permanent;

Whereas COVID causes immunocompromisation, increasing one’s risk of subsequent reinfection, for COVID as well as other diseases19 20 21 22 23, thereby rendering “herd immunity” impossible;

Whereas COVID reinfections are common and risks of short- and long-term health risks, including brain damage, strokes, heart attacks, and death, rise with each subsequent infection24;

Whereas official COVID case counts represent a severe underestimate of actual case counts25;

Whereas an approach to COVID mitigations that relies solely on vaccination is currently insufficient due to the fact that many immunocompromised people are unable to get safely vaccinated, and due to the prevalence of breakthrough infections and severe negative COVID outcomes in vaccinated people26;

Whereas the capitalist world’s de facto “let it rip” COVID policy has allowed it to mutate out of control, meaning new, more virulent variants are developing far more quickly than our capacity to respond27;

Whereas there is no risk-free in-person event during an airborne pandemic, but universal masking28 using well-fitting N95 or equivalent respirators along with good ventilation29 have been shown to be effective risk mitigation measures that are not variant-sensitive;

Whereas we are currently faced with additional pandemics and other public health crises outside of COVID, such as the current “tripledemic” of COVID, influenza, and RSV30, and will certainly be faced with other novel pandemics in the future;

Whereas an airborne pandemic cannot be addressed by liberal appeals to individual choice, but must be addressed via collective action built on a scientific foundation;

Whereas socialist organizations should hold ourselves to a high standard so as to set an example in our communities for how to operate safely amid crisis conditions such as pandemics;

Whereas socialist organizations should prioritize the health and safety of people of color; disabled, immunocompromised, elderly, caregiving, and low-income people; and others who disproportionately bear the burden of the effects of public health crises such as the COVID pandemic;

Be it therefore resolved that all Triangle DSA events where democratic business is to be conducted (i.e., officially-sanctioned discussions about decisions that will be voted on, or those votes themselves; examples include, but are not necessarily limited to, chapter meetings or working group meetings) are mandated to be held online, or at minimum hybridized with sufficient measures in place to ensure remote participants can participate fully;

Be it further resolved that Triangle DSA establishes minimum requirements for the health and safety of all in-person events to ensure that risk is mitigated as much as possible, known henceforth as the “pandemic policy”;

Be it further resolved that the first edition of this policy is included with this resolution based on current data;

Be it further resolved that Triangle DSA establishes a Health and Safety Committee (HSC) to facilitate good health and safety practices in the chapter and ensure chapter compliance with the pandemic policy, with assigned tasks including but not necessarily limited to: creating educational materials, purchasing and distributing materials for meetings (e.g. tests, respirators, air filtration materials), and ensuring policy compliance at meetings, working with event organizers, working groups, and committees as needed;

Be it further resolved that the HSC will be open to any chapter members who wish to join;

Be it further resolved that the HSC may be dissolved by a majority vote of the Steering Committee upon determination by the HSC that the pandemic policy is no longer necessary;

Be it further resolved that the HSC may update the pandemic policy and the remote meeting policy periodically based on scientific evidence that can be reasonably trusted not to be politicized towards minimizing the risk of the pandemic;

Be it further resolved that the Communications Committee will be tasked, in conjunction with the HSC, with (1) ensuring membership is aware of the pandemic policy, (2) reminding attendees of the policy in advance of in-person meetings, (3) ensuring hard copies of the policy are posted at in-person meetings, and (4) updating membership about changes to the policy.

NCTDSA Pandemic Policy, February 2023

  • This policy applies to all in-person events held by NCTDSA, including co-sponsored events.
  • The policy should be posted visibly at the entrance to in-person events.
  • Attendees are expected to abide by the pandemic policy and may be asked to leave if they do not. The HSC will be responsible for bottom-lining this task, but any member should feel empowered to respectfully communicate the boundaries in the policy.
  • If a member feels the boundaries of this Pandemic Policy are/were not respected at a Chapter function even after being respectfully communicated and reiterated, both support requests and formal grievances can be filed by emailing the Harassment and Grievance Officers (HGOs) at nctdsahgo@gmail.com and will be responded to within 48 hours per the “Resolution for Grievance and Conflict Resolution”.
  • At all events:
    • Any attendee who has been sick with any infectious illness should not attend within 2 weeks of the onset of symptoms.
      • Any attendee who has been sick with COVID should additionally test negative on a rapid antigen test in advance of attending.
    • Any attendee who has a known exposure to a sick person within the past 2 weeks should not attend.
    • Any attendee who has engaged in a high-risk activity in the past 2 weeks, such as being unmasked at a large indoor event or unmasked air/train/bus travel, should take a rapid antigen test on the day of the DSA event and attend only upon receiving a negative result.
    • Rapid antigen tests will be provided by the chapter for people who would be financially burdened by the cost of the tests.
  • Indoor events:
    • Masking
      • Masking with well-fitting N95 equivalent (N95, KF94, KN95, FFP2, P2) or better required for all attendees.
      • N95 equivalents, along with instructions for proper fit, will be provided by the chapter for attendees who do not have their own.
        • We recommend 3M Aura, as they are likely to provide a good seal on most people without requiring a fit test, along with a bifold ear loop option for people who prefer it.
    • Food/drink
      • No food/social drinking; attendees should remain masked at all times.
    • Ventilation
      • Where possible and weather permitting, ventilation should be improved by opening windows and/or providing HEPA air filtration via Corsi-Rosenthal boxes or commercial HEPA filters.
      • Venues should be considered based on their ventilation capacity.
  • Outdoor events:
    • As illness can still spread outside31, outdoor events are not risk-free.
    • Masking
      • Masking is recommended at outdoor events, particularly in larger groups, since larger/denser groups increase the risk of infection.
      • Masks will be provided by the chapter for those who want one, along with instructions for proper mask fit.
    • Food/drink
      • Food and drinks are allowed; good food-handling practice should be exercised. For example, attendees should wear a mask when handling or standing near food.
  • Large, outdoor outward-facing events, such as rallies or protests:
    • As illness can still spread outside, outdoor events are not risk-free.
    • Masking is recommended, since larger/denser groups increase the risk of infection.
    • Reasonable effort should be made to encourage attendees to wear masks, such as recommending masks on flyers and providing masks.

Appendix

Supplementary resources are linked here: COVID Resolution Supplementary Links
Longer version of the Pandemic Policy linked here: Pandemic Policy, longer version

  1. Federal Covid Response Shrinks as New Funding Stalls in Congress, Bloomberg Law, 2022 ↩

  2. New Yorker Takes Aim at People Who Still Think Covid Is a Problem, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, 2023 ↩

  3. The Case for Wearing Masks Forever, The New Yorker, 2022 ↩

  4. CDC director responds to criticisms on COVID-19 guidance, Good Morning America, 2022 ↩

  5. It’s Not ‘Encouraging’ That Mostly People With Disabilities Die Despite Covid Shots, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, 2022 ↩

  6. A U of T epidemiologist on the myth of immunity debt and the real reason everyone’s getting sick, Toronto Life, 2022 ↩

  7. SARS-CoV-2 promotes microglial synapse elimination in human brain organoids, Molecular Psychiatry, 2022 ↩

  8. COVID-19 infections increase risk of long-term brain problems, Wash U School of Medicine, 2022 ↩

  9. Long-term neurologic outcomes of COVID-19, Nature, 2022 ↩

  10. Excess risk for acute myocardial infarction mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic, Journal of Medical Virology, 2022 ↩

  11. COVID-19 Surges Linked to Spike in Heart Attacks, Cedars-Sinai Hospital, 2022 ↩

  12. Immunological dysfunction persists for 8 months following initial mild-to-moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection, Nature Immunology, 2022 ↩

  13. What we now know about long COVID and our brains, Pursuit (University of Melbourne), 2023 ↩

  14. Over a third of COVID-19 patients diagnosed with at least one long-COVID symptom, University of Oxford, 2021 ↩

  15. Long COVID: major findings, mechanisms and recommendations, Nature, 2023 ↩

  16. What it’s like to live with brain fog, The Washington Post, 2022 ↩

  17. Transcriptional reprogramming from innate immune functions to a pro-thrombotic signature by monocytes in COVID-19, Nature, 2022 ↩

  18. Tiny Blood Clots May Be to Blame for Long COVID Symptoms, Some Researchers Say, Time, 2022 ↩

  19. ACE2-independent infection of T lymphocytes by SARS-CoV-2, Nature, 2022 ↩

  20. Immunological dysfunction persists for 8 months following initial mild-to-moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection, Nature Immunology, 2022 ↩

  21. Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 and Long COVID - A spectrum of immune dysregulation, Doherty Institute, 2022 ↩

  22. Distinguishing features of Long COVID identified through immune profiling, Yale, 2022 ↩

  23. Immune boosting by B.1.1.529 (Omicron) depends on previous SARS-CoV-2 exposure, Science, 2022 ↩

  24. People who caught Covid in first wave get ‘no immune boost’ from Omicron, The Guardian, 2022 ↩

  25. Comparison of excess deaths and hospital admissions to reported COVID deaths, Dr. Lucky Tran ↩

  26. Long COVID after breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection, Nature, 2022 ↩

  27. Is the ‘Kraken’ surge starting? Cases of COVID Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 shoot up in Ontario, Toronto Star, 2023 ↩

  28. Lifting Universal Masking in Schools — Covid-19 Incidence among Students and Staff, The New England Journal of Medicine, 2022 ↩

  29. Ventilation reduces the risk of COVID. So why are we still ignoring it?, The Woolcock Institute of Medical Research ↩

  30. ‘Tripledemic:’ What Happens When Flu, RSV, and COVID-19 Cases Collide?, Yale, 2023 ↩

  31. Coronavirus FAQ: Can I get COVID outdoors?, NPR, 2022 ↩