COVID19 measures for BSW2021
The ongoing health situation has led to considerable realignment in the format and organisation of our congress, but we are well able to adapt!
The safety and experience of all attendees, exhibitors and visitors will be our absolute priority, and for this reason we have made several changes to the event format, with your health in mind, and in accordance with government advisories.
We will do everything in our ability to follow the health and safety guidelines together with you and turn the BSW2021 into a safe, responsible, and successful event for all of us.
We encourage all participants to travel to the FMCCA with their own transportation.
As you have probably heard or read, further to the Consultative Committee last Friday 20th Aug, many restrictions will be lifted from 1 September.
“For events with more than 200 participants indoor , the organizers who wish to do so can use the "Covid safe ticket" (CST), from September 1, and limit the public to people with CST. In this case only, the obligations concerning the mask, social distance and the CIRM / CERM (Covid Infrastructure Risk Model and Covid Event Risk Model) will be cancelled.”
https://www.info-coronavirus.be/en/news/occ-2008/ --> Which means that for BSW2021, we will be able to use the Covid Safe Ticket and it will no longer be mandatory to wear a face mask and to keep a social distance.
Hand sanitiser and face masks will be provided onsite if needed.
In that case everyone entering the fair in the "SAS" (between the 2 entrance doors) has to be screened.
Please present the following documents at your arrival :
- your COVID-SAFE TICKET, representing a vaccination certificate, or a 48hour valid rapid test or PCR test or a recovery certificate will be required to enter the congress venue
- ID card or passport
- printed confirmation fo your registration
Important to take into account:
- At the 1st scanning at the door the Covid Safe App will be scanned in combination with the check of your ID. If you refuse to show your ID or scans 'red' in the app, we cannot admit you to the venue.
- In Belgium we can scan the QR code of Belgians and other European countries.
- Please note that we need to screen every visitor EVERYDAY, so equally on 9th as well as on 10th Sept.
• Make sure to register in advance ! Online registrations will be possible until the 7th of Sept 2021 at midnight. This year onsite registration will not be possible.
• Arrive on time. We take additional corona safety measures meaning the checkin process may take a little longer.
Brussels, 16th December 2020.
Dear all,
2020 has been a horrendous year, no doubt about that.
Our life has been put on hold in a blink. The frailty of our whole society has been brutally exposed. Everything we took for granted has been questioned. One million and a half lives -and counting- have been lost while virologists, epidemiologists, politicians, real and would-be experts kept on quarrelling about the necessary measures.
Our social life has been reduced to nothing and more than ever, the threat of economical tragedies is lurking around the corner.
We thought we did rather well after having controlled the first wave but we were naïve; we are nowhere. Maybe the worst is yet to come.
We hope you and your loved ones are safe.
We are very happy to announce that the first virtual version of the BSW was a success : 533 surgeons and trainees attended, the free papers were followed by a multiple of the usual crowd, the plenary session gathered a number of world-class speakers and the technical platform functioned very well. So we are very satisfied. I want to thank all of you who presented, moderated, attended and supported this project.
But…..
We all miss the real thing, don’t we?
I do. I miss the social contacts, I miss talking to the experts, to our mentors, our peers, to our sponsors, to our trainees. I miss the receptions, the real sessions and the social events in a beautiful venue. And I think most of us do, even some of us who might have looked down on congresses at large and the BSW in particular. You often just don’t realize what you got until it’s gone. Anyway, I am sure that most of us are thus craving a “real “ congress now.
It might have seemed strange to make big plans in these uncertain times, but nonetheless we were proud to announce a REAL Belgian Surgical Week in Antwerp, May 5th- 8th, 2021.
The venue would have been be the one we booked last year: the beautiful Flanders Meeting & Convention Centre (FMCCA), aka the Elisabeth Centre, in the heart of Antwerp.
Things unfolding like they are now we decided however to postpone the BSW to next fall. The decline in infections came to a halt and there is not that much time left. No way to be sure of the sponsoring, attendance, international guests with only 5 months left to go. Of course, we could have gone for a virtual meeting again but we really rather fancy the real thing.
The meeting will probably be planned as a hybrid one, including as many real sessions as possible but also embracing the advantages offered by a number of virtual sessions. If COVID is still as prevalent then as it is now, we will easily be able to turn it into a completely virtual meeting. Since the virtual free paper sessions were a big success, we consider having them in the same format anyway again for these in next year’s BSW.
The BSW 2021 hopefully being the first REAL post-COVID congress, we have a hunch that it might attract much more attendees than it used to in the past. A nice prospect. Let’s cross fingers.
I hope to meet you - in the flesh - in Antwerp next autumn.
We will keep you posted as soon as possible to update on the date and venue, very probably in September 2021, 8-11th.
Yours,
For the RBSS board,
Charles de Gheldere MD FEBS Gen Surg
President RBSS
