COVID team meeting update

St. Jacob's Stone UCC Coronavirus Preparedness Meeting March 29, 2021
New Information and Discussion Concerning Virus, Transmission, Vaccine

• Deb discussed some statistical information:
  • York County is currently experiencing a rapid rise in cases and there is a high level of community spread involvement.
  • Three schools were closed last week in the county.
  • Children’s cases are showing a significant statistical increase.
• Vaccine issues discussed:
  • It looks like the Astra-Zeneca vaccine will be approved for use in the US by April.  Studies show it is 79% effective in preventing any infection and 100% effective in preventing a severe infection.   This will be the fourth vaccine approved for use.
  • I5.3% of the people immunized in Pennsylvania have had at least one injection, which is lower than many states.
  • Studies are showing that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are providing protection in “real world” use, not just from the clinical trials.
  • Moderna is studying the use of its vaccine in 6-12 year olds and hopes to be able to use in this age group by summer.
  • The US is planning to buy and stock COVID-19 vaccines of all kinds to share with other countries.
  • A lot of countries/venues are considering/requiring a “vaccine passport” showing proof of immunization before being allowed in the country or use of venue.
• At this time, there is no data to determine how long immunity will last, both through vaccines and having the illness.
• There is one IV (intravenous) antiviral medication used currently to treat COVID 19 in the hospital.  An oral antiviral medication, similar to Tamiflu used to influenza, should be available later this year for outpatient treatment.
• The CDC is now saying that in certain circumstances, in schools, children need only be three feet apart, not six.  It is hoped this will facilitate return to in-person learning.
• Deb reported that she is hearing that some members of the congregation are being told by other members that if they don’t get vaccinated, they will not be able to return to church.  Pastor Bruce stated that the origin of this may be a misunderstanding of his statements that “the sooner we get vaccinated, the sooner we can return to church.”  This was not meant to communicate in any way that vaccination is required-only that the sooner many people in the community and society get vaccinated, the sooner the rate of infection will fall, and the safer it will be for us to return to activities like indoor, in-person church.  Taking the vaccine is a personal decision.  We ARE NOT going to require that people be vaccinated to return to church.

Long Hauler Information

• People who have COVID-19 symptoms longer than 2-weeks- 6 months are considered in this category.
• People who exhibit 5 or more symptoms in the first week of illness have a higher risk of developing prolonged health issues, along with people who are older and are overweight/obese.
• PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and psychotic symptoms can occur.
• The vaccine has shown to help decrease the prolonged symptoms.
• Another problem that can develop is diabetes-COVID-19 can trigger it.

 
Discussion Concerning Return to Indoor, In-Person Worship

• Deb stated that what we have done so far still stands, but we need to re-examine what we believe we need to do to consider resuming indoor, in-person worship.
• Deb encouraged us by next meeting to review the minutes of the first 3-4 group meetings as a basis to determine what we no longer need to consider and what we need to move forward on.
• Group discussion concluded that we should plan to be ready to open by fall if conditions at that time support opening.  Re-opening will require a lot of planning and action and cannot be done quickly.  If we are ready and the circumstances do not support it, we don’t need to reopen.  However, if circumstances support it and we aren’t ready, we won’t be able to resume indoor, in-person worship.
• Deb reported she did a walkthrough of the church a few weeks ago.  Some work has been done-a lot remains to be done.
• After discussion, the group agreed that we should focus on preparing, opening, and using the upstairs level first.  As previously discussed, the air exchange in the basement is poor, and its use increases the risk of contamination and transmission.  By using the safer upstairs area first, we can learn from that experience to open the basement at a future date.
• After discussion, the group concluded that it is unrealistic to expect the sexton to provide the deep and thorough cleaning that will be required initially.  The group discussed  how this might be accomplished:
  • Having a group of volunteers from the church clean.  Details would need to be worked out-for example-how many people could safely be there at one time, what exactly would need to be done where, etc.
  • Also discussed the possible option of getting an outside cleaning service to do an initial deep cleaning. Deb stated she would start exploring this option.
  • Once a deep cleaning is done, details can then be worked out with the sexton to continue the required maintenance cleaning.
  • This would also be a good time to have the carpets cleaned.
  • We would like to have this accomplished by July.
• There are a lot of things sitting out/haphazardly stored that are the biggest impediment to completing the thorough cleaning that is required.
  • Since Jeff Forbes has done some work in cleaning some areas of the church, Deb said she will contact him to get some input as to how we might be able to proceed.
  • There is concern about “ownership” of these items/areas and what value these items may be to what people that we in the group are not aware of and we will need additional input as to what to do with these things.
• Once the deep thorough cleaning is done, we believe we will need to proceed gradually to reopen, not just go back to “business as usual” the first time we do it.
  • When we resume indoor, in-person worship, the plans are to provide telephone and internet transmission of the service-the kinks of which will need works out.
  • Because a thorough cleaning will be needed after each use, initially we recommend use of the building only for Sunday Services until the details of cleaning after other uses like funerals, meetings, luncheons, etc. are worked out. (This includes determining whether or not we will use the cleaning service provided by Bailey’s.)
  • Perhaps the first service would have only the worship team, the next also adding church leaders, and then several weeks of gradually increasing attendance.
  • We will also need to determine how many people we will be able to have in the sanctuary while maintaining a six foot distance between people who do not live with each other.
  • Offering receptacle(s) will need to be in central location. We should not pass plates.
  • We will also need to determine how communion can be safely done.
  • For the foreseeable future, we will need to have a way of knowing who was in the church and when they were there in case of any occurrence of COVID-19 infection in someone who was there.  Will continue to use sign in book.
• The group consensus is that we will most likely open and close several times before we are able to resume services continuously.
  • External factors, such as the number of cases, etc. will impact this decision.
  • Once we try to open, we will most likely find things we hadn’t thought of which will need to be addressed.
• Other safety issues need considered as well-for example, if we have all the doors open to the outside, do we need to have someone at each door for observation of possible intruders?
• We also need to designate an area for safe storage of the necessary cleaning chemicals and supplies which is currently not available upstairs.
• Although we have enough donated cleaning supplies to start, we will need to determine what will be needed on a continuous basis and a vendor to obtain supplies.
• Mike reported he is planning to purchase 2 vacuum cleaners that have HEPA filtration capability.
• We also discussed the possible re-opening of the ventilation system originally built into the ceiling of the sanctuary-the large wooden areas.  Mike reported it is possible to reopen them but probably not feasible.  Also, it is unsure how much improvement this would actually provide to the air circulation.
• We discussed what type of equipment may be available to help “clean” the air in the basement.  Mike said he is certain if any type of machines are available, we would require several.  There would not be one big enough for the entire area. Mike said he would explore if any proven options might be available.
• The group also discussed whether the picnic grove area and cookhouse could be used during the spring, summer, and fall months, as weather allows, for services and other activities, even potentially for limited food prep and service. 
  • As of now, the water is turned off-it can be turned back on, but there are steps that must be completed for it to be done.
  • The cookhouse and entire area also would require a thorough cleaning which would be similar to the effort of cleaning the church building.
  • Decisions concerning the use of the area are made by the Sunday School.  There are not any rentals being done for 2021.

 
Discussion Concerning Recommendations to Resume In-Person Indoor Worship

• The group agreed that we are at the point we need input from Consistory concerning their expectations, ideas, and commitment of any necessary resources needed in order to move forward.  Our group can only make recommendations.  The final decision is Consistory’s decision to make.
• The things we have discussed and are presenting are the things we have thought of to meet the goal of providing a healthy climate and a feasible amount of safety to resume indoor, in-person worship. 
• Successful opening and continuation of indoor services and use of the building will require a commitment of a large number of people doing the work, and commitment to providing the resources needed for feasibly safe use of the building.
• We will need to have plan in place, be organized, and move at a slow but steady pace to provide and maintain a feasibly safe environment.

Many factors beyond our control will affect when we can consider reopening.  However, we must take care of the factors and things we can control for this to happen.