HalfStack and the Coronavirus

Update: March 9, 2020

Unfortunately the corona virus / covid-19 situation has not yet improved, so we have made the difficult decision to delay our HalfStack Charlotte and HalfStack Tel Aviv events.

HalfStack Charlotte

• Old date: April 24, 2020
• New date: December 11, 2020

HalfStack Tel Aviv

• Old date: 11th of May, 2020
• New date: 19th of October, 2020

Original overview

We’ve received several inquiries about the Corona virus and its potential impact on HalfStack events in 2020.

The short answer is we hope it will not have an impact, but we are monitoring the situation closely, especially in light of events like Mobile World Congress, TSConf Japan, and F8 getting canceled. I personally was impacted as I was scheduled to speak at TSConf Japan.

W̶e̶’̶v̶e̶ ̶b̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶w̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶t̶u̶n̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶w̶e̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶n̶o̶ ̶H̶a̶l̶f̶S̶t̶a̶c̶k̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶n̶t̶s̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶n̶n̶e̶d̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶a̶s̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶s̶i̶g̶n̶i̶f̶i̶c̶a̶n̶t̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶b̶r̶e̶a̶k̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶w̶i̶n̶t̶e̶r̶.̶ ̶M̶o̶s̶t̶ ̶w̶i̶n̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶v̶i̶r̶u̶s̶’̶ ̶c̶a̶l̶m̶ ̶d̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶b̶y̶ ̶s̶p̶r̶i̶n̶g̶,̶ ̶s̶o̶ ̶w̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶m̶a̶i̶n̶ ̶h̶o̶p̶e̶f̶u̶l̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶w̶o̶n̶’̶t̶ ̶i̶m̶p̶a̶c̶t̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶u̶p̶c̶o̶m̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶n̶t̶s̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶n̶e̶x̶t̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶i̶s̶n̶’̶t̶ ̶u̶n̶t̶i̶l̶ ̶A̶p̶r̶i̶l̶ ̶2̶4̶t̶h̶.̶

We remain hopeful that most winter virus’ calm down by spring and hope that our events in Newquay (3rd of July), New York (14th of August), Vienna (18th of September) and London (20th of November) will be able to proceed as scheduled.

HalfStack Cancelation Policy

We offer what we believe to be a very fair and generous cancelation policy:

• 30 days or more in advance, you can request a full refund for any reason. If you have a ticket purchased and you remain concerned 30 days before the event, simply contact us for a refund.
• For less than 30 days in advance, you can give your ticket to a colleague or a friend, or we would allow you to exchange your ticket as a credit towards a future HalfStack event.
• If we need to cancel a HalfStack event, it is more likely that we would postpone it for later in the year rather than outright cancel it. You would then have the option to refund your ticket or keep it for the new date of the event.

We hope that these options make it clear that there is little to no risk in purchasing your ticket for a HalfStack event. If you are traveling for a HalfStack event, we always recommend the purchase of travel insurance regardless of the corona virus.

Note that our insurance for our events does not cover us in case of a virus for cancelation, so we remain hopeful that our attendees will review the information available to them and make an informed decision suitable for them rather than simply canceling out of fear or the unknown.

Corona Virus Information

There is a wide range of information about the Corona virus, and there’s a lot that is not known about it due to its newness. There are a few pieces of recent information that we find useful to share:

From The Atlantic, “You’re Likely to Get the Coronavirus”:

This virus is unlike most that capture popular attention: It is deadly, but not too deadly.

Lipsitch predicts that within the coming year, some 40 to 70 percent of people around the world will be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. But, he clarifies emphatically, this does not mean that all will have severe illnesses. “It’s likely that many will have mild disease, or may be asymptomatic,” he said. As with influenza, which is often life-threatening to people with chronic health conditions and of older age, most cases pass without medical care. (Overall, about 14 percent of people with influenza have no symptoms.)

From CNN, “How to get prepared for the spread of coronavirus”:

New data are coming out every day about Covid-19, and one critical piece of information is exactly how deadly this disease is. At the moment, it appears that Covid-19 has a 2% fatality rate — lower than SARS and MERS (10% and 30–40%, respectively), but higher than influenza (0.1%). Given the lack of ongoing surveillance and high numbers of people who are not being tested and diagnosed, some public health experts predict that the actual fatality rate of Covid-19 is much lower than 2% and may be closer to 0.1%.

If that’s the case, Covid-19 could be treated as we treat influenza. The flu is a serious seasonal illness that we work hard to prevent and treat. We develop flu vaccines and encourage everyone to obtain them. Those who get the flu and have mild symptoms self-isolate at home and avoid spreading it to others. Those who have much more severe symptoms get hospital care. There are some treatments available that reduce the severity of flu. Some people die from the flu, while the vast majority recover. It’s a serious illness, but we don’t close schools, restrict travel, and stop global economy because of it.

We don’t yet know if the trajectory of Covid-19 will be mild, moderate, or severe.

At this point, there are many who have tried to compare the corona virus to the flu which may or may not be accurate. It’s not yet known if this virus is more like a really bad flu or much worse for the average person. If you are very prone to illness or have a compromised immune system, please take whatever precautions you can to stay healthy and boost your immune system!

We hope this information helps, and we hope to see you at a future HalfStack event.