With community, participant, and staff safety in mind, BorderLinks has decided to set a clear guideline based on COVID metrics for when to switch in-person programs to a virtual format. BorderLinks will not conduct in-person programming if daily new COVID cases in Pima County are over 100 per 100,000 two weeks prior to the first day of the program.* Practically, this means that a BorderLinks staff member will check-in with groups who have a scheduled program 14 days before it begins. If the data shows that daily new COVID cases are over 100 per 100K, the decision will be made to switch the program to virtual. If under 100 per 100K, the in-person program can move forward.

While the metric of daily new cases is not the only one we look at to make decisions about COVID safety, it does indicate the severity of the virus’ presence in the community. Daily cases over 100 per 100K are extreme and have only occurred in Pima County when COVID is spiking drastically. We have observed that COVID is more likely to strike closer to home during these spikes, has caused unreasonable stress for staff and participants, and has forced unsustainable safety measures during in-person programs.

BorderLinks continues to follow its comprehensive COVID safety protocol when in-person programming is conducted—this includes mask wearing, testing, vaccination, and more. It is also our current policy to schedule in-person programs so there is no overlap with other groups in order to reduce the likelihood of cross-community spread. Delegations and workshops should be scheduled as soon as possible in order to secure your desired dates. Some dates are already being secured for 2023.

Thank you for your understanding during this unprecedented and difficult-to-navigate global pandemic as we strive to keep you, our staff, and community safe.

*We will be referring to this particular website for this metric which states that “our daily new cases number is a seven-day average divided by every 100K people in a location”: https://covidactnow.org/us/arizona-az/county/pima_county