We’re excited to announce the winners of the inaugural [Keep Virginia Safe Tournament](https://www.metaculus.com/tournament/vdh/)! This first-of-its kind collaboration with the [University of Virginia (UVA) Biocomplexity Institute](https://biocomplexity.virginia.edu/) and the [Virginia Department of Health](https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/) (VDH) delivered forecasting and modeling resources to public health professionals and public policy experts as they have navigated critical decisions on COVID-19.

Congratulations to the top 3 prize winners!

1. [Sergio](https://www.metaculus.com/accounts/profile/115725/) – $926
2. [2e10e122](https://www.metaculus.com/accounts/profile/103600/) – $241
3. [mattvdm](https://www.metaculus.com/accounts/profile/105906/) – $107


>"On behalf of the Virginia Department of Health, I’d like to offer our congratulations to Sergio, 2e10e122, mattvdm, and all the forecasters who participated in the Keep Virginia Safe Forecasting tournament! Because of your work, Virginia was better able to navigate the Delta and Omicron waves and prepare for the long-term impacts of COVID-19, helping us keep Virginians safe during a critical period."

>—Justin Crow, Foresight & Analytics Coordinator for the Virginia Department of Health

Thank you to everyone who participated! Your forecasts were integrated into VDH planning sessions and were shared with local health department staff, statewide epidemiologists, and even with the Virginia Governor’s office. 

For more details on the tournament outcomes, visit [the project summary](https://www.metaculus.com/notebooks/11162/the-keep-virginia-safe-tournament-202122-project-summary/).

Our successful partnership with UVA and VDH continues through the [Keep Virginia Safe II Tournament](https://www.metaculus.com/tournament/keep-virginia-safe-ii/), where Metaculus forecasts [continue to provide valuable information](https://www.metaculus.com/questions/14918/keep-virginia-safe-ii-rd2--forecast-impacts/).

Find more information about the Keep Virginia Safe Tournament, including the complete leaderboard, [here](https://www.metaculus.com/tournament/vdh/).

Prize winners: We will be in touch with you to arrange payment. We are happy to facilitate donations to the organizations listed [here](https://www.metaculus.com/questions/11556/donating-tournament-prizes/).

**Congratulations again to Sergio, 2e10e122, and mattvdm!**

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***Regarding the leaderboard and tournament end date:*** *We have recently updated the leaderboard to account for all tournament questions. The tournament end date was initially set to April 29, 2022 to mark when scored questions closed for forecasting. However, to include questions that closed prior to this date in tournament scoring, we adjusted the end date to March 1, 2023. Consequently, the leaderboard had not been updated since April 2022, but has now been updated to include the questions that have resolved since then. You may notice some changes to the rankings and prizes from what was shown previously because of this update.*