Safety + Wellness at General Assembly

Health & Safety at General Assembly

In keeping with UU values, your decision to attend GA in person should include an assessment of risk to your own safety, as well as compassion for the most vulnerable in our community who might also be present. In-person attendees must be vaccinated for COVID prior to entry in UUA GA spaces. Additionally, in-person attendees agree to safely distance from others when eating and/or singing, and to wear approved face masks while indoors and in close proximity.

GA 2026

Our Safety and Wellness Policy is being reviewed for GA 2026 to be sure it continues to support the well-being of everyone who will be attending events in person. For now, you can expect the same requirements we used at GA 2025, including the masking policy.

UUA GA Health & Safety Policy

To Our UUA General Assembly Registrants and Participants,

Grounded in the 2024 Action of Immediate Witness that calls us to protect those most vulnerable, we consulted public health experts, advisors within the Association, and published guidelines for other conferences and large group events. While health risks have come down significantly, those advisors and experts noted that ongoing measures greatly reduce both collective and individual risk.

Most notably, all agree that vaccines remain the most important and effective measure for reducing transmission and the long-term impact of COVID-19, as well as the range of other highly communicable diseases like the flu and measles.As ever, air quality and circulation are essential for lowering the risk of spread of every airborne infectious disease.

Conducting testing in advance and encouraging anyone with symptoms to opt out of group events is another critical tool to reduce risk of infection. Our advisors remind us that making masking both accessible and comfortable helps protect the most vulnerable.

Given these shared explorations, our policy for in-person participation at in-person GA events is as follows:

  • All attendees are required to have had a full course of COVID-19 vaccine (unless they have a medical exemption)
  • Attendees are asked to take a rapid COVID test prior to traveling
  • Attendees who are showing symptoms of illness should not participate in person, and should instead participate online
  • Masks are required at all GA-sponsored indoor activities that take place at the Studio Site in Louisville. Masks may be removed when actively eating or drinking. For smaller or informal gatherings, or events not hosted by GA, masking practices are determined by the organizers of those specific events.
  • Masks will be available for attendees.

By requiring masking in indoor spaces for GA sponsored programming at this event, the UUA is going above and beyond the collective recommendations from our advisors and expanding upon the guidance offered in our 2024 Action of Immediate Witness. We do this out of a depth of care for and commitment to our most impacted communities during this time of overall risk and trauma. In sharing this GA’s guidance, we recognize the need to have a broader conversation in the year ahead that engages all constituencies in discernment of our ongoing policies and practices. We commit to taking the time and space to discuss these critical issues in a manner that is in alignment with our values.

It is important to note that the high-quality virtual option is a key part of our commitment to accessibility and safety. While our policies apply to GA attendees, we cannot apply them uniformly to others who share spaces with us, including employees of the site and other private or independent affiliated events. In addition to issues of economic accessibility, we also know that travel itself carries major risk to exposure, and that health status can change quickly. Standardized registration rates this year provide for seamless choices between online and in person participation.

While this will be the policy for GA, we recognize each UU community can and should make their own determinations about accessibility, risk, and mitigation. We note that requiring masks for a single national event which requires travel from all over the country carries a unique risk profile and encourage your own thoughtful and relational process of decision-making.

Shared in the spirit of mutual care,

Carey McDonald, UUA Executive Vice President

Before You Travel, Plan Ahead

  • Get up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines before you travel.
  • Check the current COVID-19 Community Level at your destination.
  • Make sure you understand and follow all state, tribal, local, and territorial travel restrictions, including proper mask-wearing, proof of vaccination, or testing requirements.
    • For up-to-date information and travel guidance, check the state, tribal, local, and territorial health department’s websites where you are, along your route, and where you are going.
  • If traveling by air, check if your airline requires any testing, vaccination, or other documents.
  • Prepare to be flexible during your trip as restrictions and policies may change during your travel.
  • If you have a weakened immune system or are at increased risk for severe disease, take multiple prevention steps to provide additional layers of protection from COVID-19 even if you are up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines.
    • Talk to your healthcare provider about your risk before travel and consider delaying travel to areas with high COVID-19 Community levels. Even if you are up to date, you should know what precautions to take.

Daily Health Considerations

Each morning before leaving your room, please ask yourself (as well as any youth for whom you are responsible):

“Am I/Are you experiencing any of the following symptoms (that are not caused by a known chronic medical condition)?”

  • Cough
  • Congestion/Runny Nose
  • Shortness of breath/difficulty breathing
  • Fever or chills
  • Headache
  • Sore throat
  • New loss of taste/smell
  • Nausea or vomiting
  • Diarrhea
  • New muscle/body aches or fatigue

If Yes,

  • Isolate in your room.
  • Consider taking a rapid test

If You Test Negative,

  • Continue isolation until all symptoms resolve.
  • Get a Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.

If You Test Positive,

  • Contact the GA Care Team (gachaplains@uua.org) to report your positive case.
  • Continue isolation for the length of the quarantine period recommended by the CDC.
  • Stay in room with further precautions and supports, as needed.
  • Obtain PCR test. Once test results are negative; Return home.

Health Acknowledgement

Registering to attend General Assembly in-person is an acknowledgement that:

I understand that travel and gathering involves risk of sickness, including sickness from COVID-19. I (and on behalf of my minor guest(s)) waive and release the UUA, its board, sponsors and exhibitors, employees and agents, from and against claims, liabilities and expenses arising from injury, sickness or death from contraction or spread of COVID-19 or other communicable disease due to travel to or attendance at an event sponsored by the UUA. I will take necessary precautions while at the event including, but not limited to, engaging in appropriate social distancing, wearing a mask when requested and/or required, minimize face touching, frequently washing hands and avoiding risky environments such as overcrowded rooms. I agree to remove myself from all GA programming if I feel ill or have exposure to a COVID-19 case. I understand that I am financially responsible for all expenses should I overstay my departure date, under the direction of a medical professional, due to COVID-19. This waiver and release is binding on me and my heirs and successors.

In-person attendees are urged to check the latest guidelines from the CDC and the State Department travel advisories and review the individual supplier’s websites before and during travel. Links to those resources and others have been provided by the UUA travel consultant.