Re: Assessment criteria for decision on in-person/virtual IETF 108

[Jay Daley <jay@xxxxxxxx>]

Stewart

On 18/04/2020, at 1:31 AM, Stewart Bryant <stewart.bryant@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Jay

Whilst I understand that the focus is on IETF108, this dreadful illness is likely to be with us until there is a reliable vaccine widely available. So even it it is under control there will likely be a reservoir of infection for a while and a risk that an IETF participant will fall ill with it during a meeting.

That means that we have to consider not only what happens with IETF109 in terms of virtual/F2F but also, if it is F2F whether the medical resources in Bangkok are such that attendees would be comfortable with the quality and quantity of available care and treatment in that city should they be struck by the covid infection during the meeting.

Some independent sources rank the Thailand healthcare system very highly https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1746289/thailands-healthcare-ranked-sixth-best-in-the-world

I am not sure which is the best venue from that point of view, but serious consideration should be given to moving the meeting to a place where a significant majority are happy with the medical facilities.

As I hope is clear by now, I prefer objective data over subjective views wherever possible as the latter are swayed so much by emotion and information gaps. For example, I am deeply uncomfortable at the prospect of requiring medical treatment while in the US and needing to navigate what appears to me from my barely informed position to be an utterly bizarre system, but that doesn’t change the objective likelihood that I would get excellent treatment. 

Jay

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Jay Daley
IETF Executive Director

Best regards

Stewart