Dear First Parish Community,
We’d like to share a couple updates. First, below you will find a summary from the recent Survey sent by the Re-Entry Team. Second, Covid Act Now, the website that significantly shaped our metric-driven protocols, announced changes on Tuesday. In short, they are moving to align with the CDC’s focus on Covid-19 Community Levels.
As you may be aware, the CDC model identifies three levels for counties: low, medium, and high. Middlesex County moved recently into “medium” due to a higher number of cases (greater than 200 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 7 days). The other two metrics tracked—new Covid admissions to hospitals and the percentage of hospital patients with Covid—remain low. The higher case level is understood as an early warning signal that increased caution may be warranted.
As the Re-Entry Team considers how to integrate the news from Covid Act Now into our own recommendations, we find our current protocols a good fit for “Medium” as defined by the CDC and Covid Act Now. To recap:
- Vaccinations, including boosters, are expected of all who are eligible.
- Masks are required for Sunday Services and large groups (greater than 20).
- Those who remove masks in Services have tested that day.
- Masks are optional outside for all.
- Masking are optional for fully vaccinated individuals alone in the building and for small groups (20 and fewer) of fully vaccinated persons. Some small groups may elect to remain masked.
- Social distancing is available in the Sanctuary during services.
As always, we welcome your feedback and thoughts as we continue our work of bringing the community back together.
In service,
The First Parish Re-Entry Task Force
Lynne Cavanaugh, Barbara Heffner, Kate Holland, Jim Kitendaugh, and Rev. Stephanie May
View eblast message (including Re-entry Team survey results)