Health & Safety

Health/Safety - UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2023

In response to COVID-19, our Creative Team is dedicated to implementing collective efforts to keep our ensemble and our extended community safe from exposure / transmission through Health/Safety Pathways & Policies. Because our collaborative focus and energy is rooted in the safety and the well-being of our collaborators, it is imperative that we provide these Pathways & Policies to address our united and clear response to the global pandemic and our strategic plans to collaborate in-person moving forward. Thank you for engaging with this evolving document and holding space for these pathways and policies. Updates will be discussed and clarified as we learn more and inevitably respond to new information as it is revealed to us through public health guidelines and public safety recommendations. We appreciate your time, communication, and care.

Table of Contents

Vaccination / Booster Policy
Self Screen & Watch for Symptoms Policy
“Tap Out” & Get Tested Policy
Close Contact Policy
Mask Policy
Contact Information

Vaccination / Booster Policy

You are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to be fully vaccinated and fully boosted to participate in any/all in-person OUT LOUD gatherings, including but not limited to rehearsals, tech rehearsals, performances, workshops, masterclasses, lab sessions, events, and photoshoot collaborations.
Please submit a scan or photo of your updated Vaccination Card to [email protected] at least 48 hours before your first expected in-person participation date.
Once you have submitted your approved Vaccination Card, it will be documented and you will not have to submit it again until further boosters
are required. If/when additional booster shots are required / made available, OUT LOUD will contact any/all current collaborators with updates on in-person timelines and expectations moving forward.
If you are unvaccinated and/or unboosted at this time, you will still be able to participate through our virtual sessions and will have full access to our virtual pathways of involvement.
Medical/Religious Waivers: If participants require a medical or religious waiver, please contact Kira Hawkridge at [email protected].

Self Screen & Watch for Symptoms Policy

Any/all collaborators are REQUIRED to “Self Screen” before participating in any/all in-person gatherings.

Any/all collaborators are REQUIRED to watch for potential Cold, Flu, and/or COVID-19 related symptoms. People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. Anyone can have mild to severe symptoms. People with these symptoms may have Cold, Flu, or COVID-19:

Fever or chills
Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Fatigue
Muscle or body aches
Headache
New loss of taste or smell
Sore throat
Congestion or runny nose
Nausea or vomiting
Diarrhea

Any/all collaborators are responsible for accessing if they currently meet all requirements outlined through our COVID-19 Pathways & Policies. If you do not meet all requirements outlined through our COVID-19 Pathways & Policies - but are TESTING NEGATIVE FOR COVID-19, you will be STRONGLY ENCOURAGED but NO LONGER REQUIRED (as of July 2023) to “tap out” of any in-person sessions until you are able to meet all outlined requirements.

Our Creative Team STRONGLY ENCOURAGE any/all collaborators to engage with ongoing asymptomatic testing, particularly when highly engaged with consistent in-person activities and interactions.

“Tap Out” & Get Tested Policy

If you are feeling unwell and/or exhibiting any consistent symptoms related to Cold, Flu, or COVID-19 - or if you test positive for COVID-19 (with or without symptoms & regardless of current vaccination status) - you are REQUIRED to “tap out” of any/all in-person gatherings until you have:

a) Passed the duration of the appropriate quarantine/isolation periods: Minimum of 5 days when you have tested positive (Isolation) AND/OR
b) Are able to provide a negative at home or PCR test 24 hours before your expected return to in-person participation after your symptoms have fully subsided and you are cleared as no longer contagious for any form of Cold, Flu, or COVID-19 related symptoms. Please note that you are REQUIRED to submit this negative at home or PCR test to the COVID COMPLIANCE POINT OF CONTACT (Kira Hawkridge - [email protected]) before you are able to return to in-person participation.

Note: If you test positive, isolate for 5 days, and then test negative, you are still REQUIRED to wear a well fitting mask over both your nose and mouth at ALL TIMES while participating in any/all in-person sessions for an additional 5 days, regardless of negative test status. If you test positive for COVID-19, you are required to self-isolate regardless of vaccination status.

Close Contact Policy

If you experience a potential or confirmed close contact / direct exposure with an individual or group who have tested positive for COVID-19 (or who are awaiting test results and are unsure of their current status), you are REQUIRED to adhere to the following precautions listed here (which include wearing a mask for 10 days, monitoring for symptoms, and engaging with continued testing with a definite test on day 6 which you are REQUIRED to submit to KIRA HAWKRIDGE as the Covid Compliance Point of Contact) as well as REQUIRED to “tap out” of any in-person gatherings until you have:

a) Produced a negative at home or PCR test taken 24 hours before your expected return to in-person participation. Please note that a CLOSE CONTACT is defined as having been in the company of an individual or group within the last 24-72 hours who have tested positive for COVID-19 - even if their positive test was taken and/or communicated after your interaction. An example of this would be seeing an individual/group on Sunday and then one those individuals receiving positive test results on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Please be prepared to communicate to the COVID COMPLIANCE POINT OF CONTACT (Kira Hawkridge - [email protected]) within 24 hours through the provided phone / email if you test positive for COVID-19 so that any/all collaborators may be informed of potential exposure / being a close contact. All affected collaborators will be informed by phone and email if they have had a close contact / experienced a direct exposure within 24 hours of the Creative Team being informed.

If there is the potential of a significant group exposure (ie: 2 cases or more within the cast/crew and/or Creative Team), The Creative Team will pause all in-person sessions for at least 24 hours, REQUIRING all in-person participating members to test and produce a negative at home or PCR test within the timeframe of the initial pause - but before an expected return to in-person participation, and will defer to WSU Leadership to address if / when it is safe to move forward with the production.
- Please note that any required test results taken should be communicated to KIRA HAWKRIDGE (COVID COMPLIANCE POINT OF CONTACT) through the designated email: [email protected].

Mask Policy

Any/all collaborators are NO LONGER REQUIRED (as of July 2023) to wear a mask/face covering over both their nose and mouth at all times when collaborating in-person while indoors, during all forms of in-person collaborations unless eating, drinking, or otherwise noted in advance by the Creative Team.

Face shields without a face mask are not acceptable face coverings.
A minimum of an approved surgical mask is STRONGLY ENCOURAGED.
We STRONGLY ENCOURAGE the use of an approved KN95 or N95 mask.

Testing is encouraged for indoor and mask-less interaction (ie: run thru rehearsals, tech, performances, photoshoots, etc). Updates to this policy will be discussed on a case by case basis in conversation with updated Community Transition Rates / CDC and RI Department of Health recommendations and guidelines.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Covid Compliance Point of Contact

Kira Hawkridge
- [email protected]