COVID-19
This page will contain all updates, from newest to oldest, about our work and plans for Northwest Model United Nations - Portland (NWMUN-Portland) with relation to COVID-19 (the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, also known as "novel coronavirus"). This page will also have some general information on the disease as it relates to our planning; we encourage all readers to seek out other sources of information on the disease broadly. If you have any questions, please contact the Secretary-General.
Resources:
Steps to Prevent Illness (CDC)
Oregon Health Authority Resources on COVID-19
Centers for Disease Control Resources on COVID-19
Oregon Department of Education Communicable Disease Guidance
October 17, 2020
The NWA Board of Directors has said consistently that "health and safety are paramount concerns." Today, we determined that there is no way to protect the health and safety of attendees of an in-person conference in February in Seattle. As a result, the NWA Board voted to make NWMUN-Portland 2021 a virtual conference for delegates. As we have previously determined that Gatherly will be our web platform for NWMUN-Seattle 2020, we are currently planning to hold NWMUN-Portland 2021 over Gatherly as well.
We have not determined what changes we will make for staffing - at present, staff will still be attending the conference in person - but we intend to make these decisions by the end of November. By this time we should also know when our registration cutoff (required to ensure user account creation for Gatherly can happen on time) will be, as well as registration rates. However, we wanted to start out by letting everyone know that delegations (including delegates, head delegates, and staff) will all be participating online.
Our refund policy from August 1 remains in effect (see below).
August 1, 2020
NWMUN-Portland 2021 is announcing a new and unique refund policy for the 2020 conference as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our intention with this refund policy is to allow attendees to register with peace of mind.
In the event the conference needs to be canceled (which at present is not planned or even likely, but may occur due to legal requirements, venue closures, or an organizational assessment of the safety and health of our attendees and volunteers), all payments made to NWMUN-Portland 2021 will be refunded in full.
In the event the conference needs to be rescheduled (which at present is not planned or even likely, but may occur due to legal requirements, venue closures, or an organizational assessment of the safety and health of our attendees and volunteers), all schools will be offered the option of maintaining their registration for the new dates, or receiving a full refund.
In the event an attending school has a municipal, county, state, provincial, or national regulation or order not to attend events, their payments will be refunded in full.
In the event that NWMUN-Portland 2021 reduces fees for any reason after an attending school has paid, the excess payments made will be refunded in full to reduce that school's total fees paid to their lowest possible rates.
July 13, 2020
Oregon Governor Kate Brown has announced a 10-person limit on indoor gatherings that applies to most events, including conferences such as NWMUN-Portland 2021. This reduces the Phase 1 limit of 25 people that was previously in effect in Portland. Previously, Governor Brown had announced a mandatory mask order for 7 counties, including Multnomah County (which includes most of Portland, including our conference venue.) These limits have been announced as indefinite with the intent to be temporary. Currently, all preparations for the conference continue as normal.