While we all want to be done with Covid, it’s not quite done with us. In some places, cases are on the rise with a new variant. In Thurston County, our cases and risk level have been up and down the past few months.
At OUUC, each week we update the website to reflect the current risk level in Thurston County. To determine risk level, we use Covid ActNow and the CDC Community Tracker. You can find the risk level and links to all OUUC’s guidance on the front page of the OUUC website. Covid updates page: https://www.ouuc.org/covid-19-updates/
What we know about the virus and how we respond changes regularly. The Health & Safety Task Force continues working hard to create guidance for OUUC that is in alignment with our values, protects those who are vulnerable, and helps keep us connected.
The Task Force met recently to revisit our phased guidance, which outlines how we respond at each risk level, low, medium, and high. The task Force adopted these changes and additions:
- Request that people who test positive for Covid refrain from in-person activities at OUUC for 10 days after the onset of symptoms or a positive test.
- Allow singing in the sanctuary by everyone with masks at all the Covid risk levels, including high.
- Increase the number of people in the sanctuary level from 15 to 30 people when the risk level is high. At lower risk levels we welcome more people based on available seating with some spacing.
We think these actions are acceptable based on the widespread adoption of vaccines, our better ventilation in the sanctuary, and our use of masks inside the OUUC building. We continue to monitor the ventilation and CO2 levels in the sanctuary.
With the change in Board members in June, the board liaison to the Task Force changed. We thank Brian Coyne for his leadership of the Task Force these past two years. We welcome Tami Black in the liaison role on behalf of the new board.
Please thank these people who serve on the Health & Safety Task Force: Jerald Dodson, Kerry Dyer, Chris Parke, Tim Ransom, Pat Sonnenstuhl, Polly Taylor, Frank Turner. Staff representatives are Marie Arensmeyer and me.
Thank you for caring for yourself and for each other.
Rev. Mary