The JCC will reopen again for in-person worship beginning on Sunday, April 3, 2022 in the Fellowship Hall. As with our first reopening last June, similar COVID protocols will still be in place:
- Face masks must be worn while inside the buildings
- Proof of vaccination required
- No food to be consumed indoors (no Coffee Fellowship)
- Practice good hygiene – wash hands often, use hand sanitizer, cover coughs and sneezes
- Promote social distancing
As always, if you do not feel well, stay home. Follow CDC guidance if COVID symptoms develop. Sunday worship services will continue to be posted on the website each week. April 3 is also Communion Sunday and we will be using the pre-filled Communion cups.
The latest COVID updates from the Reopening Task Force can be found here, and below:
JCC Proposal for Re-opening for In-Person Services/Activities
Final: March 9, 2022
Purpose: The JCC COVID-19 Task Force convened on February 24, 2022, to update its recommendations for re-opening the church for in-person services and activities. This proposal supplements and updates the recommendations from July 2020 and was presented to the Session at its meeting on March 9, 2022, and approved. These initial recommendations are made taking extra precautions beyond what is currently recommended since our congregation has many very elderly people.
Effective Date: April 1, 2022
Considerations: As with all church-related activities, we ask for God’s love and wisdom to guide us as we develop and implement these recommendations. A scholarly treatise published by Anglican bishop N.T. Wright in June 2021 entitled God and Pandemics contains the following quote from Martin Luther during the black plague “Therefore I shall Ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and perchance infect and pollute others, and so cause their death as a result of my negligence… See, this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.” More than 500 years ago, this wisdom from the founder of the Lutheran faith shows the proper attitude toward respect for public health and science as a responsibility of Christians.
These recommendations are based on the current COVID-19 situation and the best available public health science (i.e., CDC recommendations). They are intended to protect most people, but when applying any public health recommendations, individuals must use their own judgment and do what feels most comfortable in their own situations.
Current COVID-19 Situation: Due to the very contagious Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19, Utah cases dramatically increased to >10,000 cases per day in early January 2022. During the months of December-February, probably most Utah residents were exposed to the Omicron variant. There were many cases among persons who were fully vaccinated and boosted, but most of these cases were mild and did not require hospitalization. By contrast, unvaccinated persons were sicker, and many of them required hospitalization, resulting in great overload of the healthcare capacity in hospitals. Starting in mid-February, new cases began to decline probably due to most high risk and unvaccinated individuals having become infected. The steep decline of new cases in most U.S. states during February has resulted in most states easing their COVID-19 public health measures and attempting to return to more normal activities. At the time these recommendations were drafted, COVID-19 cases in Utah were at <300 cases per day on average. However, the case counts are expected to continue to fluctuate widely and, as home testing becomes more popular, cases will be increasingly undercounted.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now considers COVID-19 to be an endemic disease, i.e., similar to the flu, measles, pertussis, etc. This means that COVID-19 will be with us for the foreseeable future, waxing and waning depending a variety of factors including emergence of new variants, vaccination uptake, weather (COVID-19 is much more transmissible in winter months when many people gather indoors, especially for end-of-year holidays), political situation, and level of cooperation by the populace with masking and other preventive measures. Because the disease manifestations vary greatly in individuals depending on vaccination status, age, immune status, etc., and due to the advance of home testing options (these cases cannot be counted by usual public health methods), the CDC is moving away from relying on daily case counts to monitor trends. Rather, they will more closely monitor the hospitalized cases since these cases are the ones that affect the healthcare systems. Healthcare system overload is one of the most serious consequences of pandemics and can be disastrous for the overall societal well-being. As science advances, the availability of new treatments may reduce the impact of COVID-19 on health care systems by reducing the need for hospitalization.
As far as public health measures, the CDC is moving increasingly toward full vaccination and booster status as the most important preventive measure, though they will continue to recommend masking, social distancing, quarantine and isolation, and other measures especially during times when transmissions levels are high.
Criteria for Re-Opening the Church for In-Person Activities: Due to the availability of vaccines and home testing options, it no longer makes sense to base re-opening on daily case counts. Rather, we anticipate re-opening to depend on: 1) the current situation and threat level as published by the Utah Department of Health and CDC; 2) vaccination status; 3) attendance levels; and 4) logistics, e.g., ability to provide on-line service options.
The most recent CDC criteria for COVID-19 level of risk in communities can be found at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/covid-by-county.html.
Currently, Utah is at low (green) or medium (yellow) risk and masking is not required for most fully vaccinated and boosted persons. If you are very elderly or immunocompromised, you should consult your health care provider for questions about safety to attend in-person events.
The Session members will decide whether to open the church for in-person activities based on these criteria.
Criteria for Attending In-Person Activities: The Task Force came up with the following criteria for persons to attend in-person services at present. Out of an abundance of caution, these criteria are much stricter than the current CDC recommendations and may be revisited and revised over time as we have more experience:
- Persons attending in-person activities should be fully vaccinated and boosted according to the most current public health recommendations. Those who do not meet these criteria are asked not to attend in-person activities until warmer weather permits outdoor seating.
- Persons with symptoms (those specific to COVID-19 such as cough and loss of sense of taste/smell, and also including any flu- or cold-like symptoms) are requested not to attend until symptoms have resolved, and they have negative test results (rapid antigen test at a pharmacy or drive-through site, home test, or PCR test at a doctor’s office) for COVID-19.
- Fully vaccinated persons who are diagnosed with COVID-19 are asked not to attend for 2 weeks after the onset of their first symptom.
- Unvaccinated persons who are diagnosed with COVID-19 are asked not to attend for 4 weeks after the onset of their first symptom.
Policies for In-Person Worship Services:
- Members and attendees are asked to provide information on their vaccine status to the JCC vaccine registry. As people enter the Fellowship Hall, a Session member or designee will monitor to ensure those in attendance are all vaccinated. Registry information will be kept confidential and may only be viewed by selected Session members and others designated by the Session to collect this information.
- For present, worship services will be conducted in the Fellowship Hall to maximize air flow and social distancing. If COVID-19 levels become low (green), the Session will discuss returning to the Chapel for services.
- Masking is required for all indoor activities unless it becomes apparent that transmission in Utah is at a low (green) level. The decision to no longer require masking will be determined by the Session and announced in The Herald.
- Social distancing of at least 6 feet is required in Fellowship Hall.
- Music and singing: Singing is considered a moderately high risk activity. Initially, there will be no congregational singing, but solo instrumental pieces and soloist singing at a distance of more than 10 feet from the congregation will be allowed. If COVID-19 reaches low (green) levels, the Session will decide when congregational singing can be reinstated.
- Availability of worship on zoom or live on-line options: The Task Force recommends that we always maintain on-line options for services. This could be live streaming or pre-recorded Zoom sessions or a hybrid. For example, until we have selected an Interim Pastor, the sermons may be pre-recorded and shown on a large screen TV during the otherwise live-streamed in-person service.
- Worship committee: Because of the complexity and work needed to maintain worship services, we recommend to the Session the convening of a Worship Committee to assist with planning and execution of weekly services.
- After service fellowship: Initially, we request that members do not unmask during after service fellowship. Any treats provided should be taken home and eaten.
Policies for other in-person activities using church facilities: Permissions and application process for in-person other in-person activities will be per the previous recommendations. The Task Force will review and modify previous recommendations on the policies for in-person activities.
Food and use of kitchen facilities: At present, no food service activities are allowed. However, when these activities resume, the Task Force recommends we review insurance and liability issues around food and use of the kitchen facilities.
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Every month, there is information in the Herald about the schedule of church activities as impacted by COVID and a regular column from Dr. Allyn Nakashima providing COVID information updates and recommendations.
Herald Article – February 2022
Living with COVID–19: Seeking appropriate medical care
Because of the extreme contagiousness of the omicron variant of COVID–19, many people have or will become infected in the next several weeks. During the past week, Utah averaged 10,000 new reported cases each day. Since reported cases do not include cases that were not tested or diagnosed through home–testing, this estimate is undoubtedly an undercount.
Therefore, because the chance of being infected is so high currently, if you have any symptoms, however mild, it is important to seek testing. If you have any risk factors, such as a chronic illness (asthma, diabetes) or immunosuppression, testing is critical because if you test positive your clinician can put you on COVID–specific treatments that will help you to recover more quickly. Many of these drugs work better if started early in the course of illness. It is also important not to attempt to self–treat if you think you might have COVID or you are diagnosed in a non–clinical setting, e.g., home testing or drive thru site.
New research and COVID–specific drugs are coming out very quickly and it is important to seek care from your primary care provider to access these. Currently available treatments include monoclonal antibodies, antivirals (e.g., Remdesivir, Paxlovid, Molnupiravir), oxygen, and mechanical ventilation assistance—all of which can only be accessed when under the care of a physician
Herald Article – January 2022
Living with COVID-19: the Omicron variant
As with all viruses, mutations are constantly occurring with the SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19. The vast majority of these mutations do not affect the virus’s abilities to infect people or change the disease characteristics. However, occasionally mutations that produce significant changes that improve transmissibility. The Delta variant and the Omicron variant are two viruses with increased transmissibility characteristics. The Omicron variant is particularly transmissible and has already replaced the Delta variant as the primary cause of new infections. Because of its increased transmissibility characteristics, many people will acquire the Omicron variant during the holidays, despite full vaccination and booster status. However, this variant may produce less severe disease. Fully vaccinated persons who have also received boosters, appear to have mild or asymptomatic illness when infected with the Omicron variant. Over 80% of cases requiring hospitalization are among unvaccinated persons.
A new oral antiviral drug to treat COVID-19 was approved by the FDA in the past week. Paxlovid is a combination drug consisting of two antiviral agents: nirmatrelvir and ritonavir. It should become widely available in about a month. If taken soon after infection, this drug may be especially useful to mitigate symptoms in elderly and immunocompromised persons. Check with your primary care provider about this drug.
Due to the increases in COVID-19 symptoms during the holidays, testing supplies are in short supply and many testing sites are overtaxed.
During the holidays, it is important to avoid family gatherings and other group situations if anyone has flu or cold symptoms. To prevent Omicron, avoid group gatherings if everyone is not masked. Many veniues, such, as, theater, concerts or movies, are safer if the venue requires proof of vaccination.
Herald Article – December 2021
Living with COVID-19: Practical tips for managing a COVID scare
In the last installment, we discussed how important it is for all of us to understand that COVID will be with us for the foreseeable future, and each of us will have to make decisions on what course of action to take depending on factors. The new omicron variant in South Africa appears to have already made to the United States. Because there genetic make up of this virus is quite different from the viruses used to generate the COVID vaccines, the current vaccines may not be effective. The vaccine manufacturers will be scrambling to get a new vaccine that will be effective in as short a time as possible. Thus the future situation will be similar to seasonal influenza, and every year we will have to get one or boosters that target the latest circulating variants of COVID. In this article, I want to share a personal event that illustrates how we will need to react to COVID in the future.
My daughter arrived on Monday before Thanksgiving after working in Las Vegas at a convention where she sold merchandise. Her observation was that the event was not that safe because it was in Nevada where many people don’t wear masks and are not vaccinated. On Tuesday evening (within 48 hours after she arrived), I developed a sore throat and runny nose, but no fever or other COVID symptoms. In other times, I would have assumed this was a typical cold and not done much about it. The incubation period for COVID is usually 3-5 days at a minimum so I doubted Halley exposed me. Because of the convention, though, Halley was planning to get tested in the next few days after she arrived. I had been to a play, gone shopping and eaten with friends at restaurants in the prior week. Another factor was that we are here in Utah with moderately high transmission rates (about 300-500 cases per day in Salt Lake City) and low vaccination rates (about 60% fully vaccinated). I was also planning to go on a trip leaving the Monday after Thanksgiving. Finally, Clarence, Halley’s husband was set to arrive Wednesday evening, and we didn’t want him to come if either of us had COVID. All these considerations made me decide that both of us should get a COVID test.
So where and what test should we get? There are many places and different types of tests that are useful for different purposes. One of the simplest ways to get tested is at one of the public health testing sites. To pre-register, look under the ‘COVID-19 Mitigation Information’ tab on the JCC website and click on the location most convenient for you. I used the Utah Department of Health’s drive-thru testing site located at 288 N 1460 W, Salt Lake City, UT 84116. This site allows for people who are pre-registered as well as walk-ins. The site open from 7 am to 7 pm most days and the wait was less than 15 minutes. The test being used at this site is the Abbott BINAX rapid antigen test and is provided to the patient free of charge. The results are sent to the patient within 1 hour by mobile text or email. This test is about 70% sensitive for detecting COVID-19, and there are very few false positives. Since I was symptomatic, the likelihood of a false negative is low so I felt this test was good enough for my purpose. PCR and NAAT tests are more sensitive (>90%) and are available at some sites and at the Utah Public Health Laboratory, but these tests usually require 1-3 day turnaround time for results. These tests have very few false negatives and are good for screening asymptomatic persons. Rapid PCR tests are available in Emergency Rooms for diagnostic purposes. These tend to be more costly unless covered by insurance as part of the initial ER work up. If you have questions about whether you need to get tested and what test you should get, contact your primary care provider. Fortunately, both Halley and I tested negative and I recovered quickly from my cold symptoms.
Situations like the one presented here are going to become increasingly common. So it is important to know where to get tested and under what circumstances one should get tested. Contact your primary care provider or a public health expert for questions.