SYMPOSIUM 2020 HAS BEEN POSTPONED-READ THE ANNOUNCEMENT HERE
As the nation responds to an outbreak of a respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus (COVID-19), HFA is closely monitoring the situation and evaluating steps that need to be taken to best prepare to host its upcoming annual patient Symposium on April 23-25, 2020 in Baltimore, MD.
Symposium is taking place as planned and our team is working on implementing procedures and policies to ensure our attendees have the resources they need to feel safe.
All individuals who are sick and showing symptoms of a cold or flu should remain home and not attend Symposium. We urge attendees to adhere to CDC’s and state governments’ statements on travel restrictions and self-quarantine recommendations. CDC provides recommendations on postponing or canceling travel. These are called travel notices and are based on assessment of the potential health risks involved with traveling to a certain area. Currently, there are no travel notices pertaining to travel within the United States. A list of destinations that are affected by travel notices is available at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers.
HFA’s leadership team and Symposium committee have met, and will continue to meet on a regular basis to discuss COVID-19 and steps that need to be taken as Symposium approaches. We are closely monitoring updates from the CDC on hosting mass gatherings or large community events.
In addition to monitoring federal agencies, we’re closely monitoring the state of Maryland and city of Baltimore’s agencies. The Baltimore City Health Department has been monitoring the COVID-19 virus and preparing for possible cases in Baltimore since early January, working in tandem with the Maryland Department of Health.
On March 3, 2020, we met with the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor staff to discuss sanitization and cleaning procedures of the facility. The Hilton has already implemented enhanced cleaning schedules and ensured that their current line of cleaning supplies is effective for killing bacteria and virus. The hotel is working with its suppliers on securing additional alcohol-based hand sanitizers to make them readily available to hotel guests and our conference attendees. We will continue to work with the Hilton staff to assess their procedures and identify opportunities where we can cut down the possible spread of germs.
This is a developing topic and each day a new headline or announcement is published that shapes it. Please refer to HFA’s website for the most up to date information on the subject. We will continue to monitor updates from the Baltimore City Health Department, the Maryland Department of Health and the CDC on this matter.
If you have questions, please contact HFA at info@hemophiliafed.org or call us at 202-675-6984.
Interested in more information about coronavirus (COVID-19) and what HFA is doing to monitor the outbreak? Visit our dedicated coronavirus webpage, here.
SYMPOSIUM 2020 HAS BEEN POSTPONED-READ THE ANNOUNCEMENT HERE
