With Omicron and Delta COVID strains and influenza in the community and with a rise of cases in California, the mask mandate for indoor public services has been issued by the governor. For the Congregation, all agreed we are back to masking inside for services with the exception of the service leader at the bimah.
The mask mandate is in effect as of Wed Dec 15th until Jan 15, 2022. We will meet during the week of Jan 10th to see if changes need to be made to the policy.
In regards to ventilation, the sanctuary space (Vertical and horizontal ) is over 150000 square cubit feet. It was felt that since there are fewer people at services, we should be able to have the doors closed when it is cold and only have a few windows open if needed. The exit door on the east side of the social hall by the janitorial storage room can be open to promote fresh air circulation and should still allow for adequate heat to be in the sanctuary.
In terms of Kiddush/Oneg, those who attend Saturday morning services have been fairly good about distancing, and about masking except when actually eating or drinking. We will follow closely any updates with public restaurant rules to see if we need changes. It was felt that if we can eat with the masks off and then wear masks while moving around at anytime with social distancing it should be relatively safe. We are still on track to offer a soup and dessert option after services in January at this point.
We can not be 100% safe. With the new variants and people being vaccinated we can still minimize exposure by requiring only entry to vaccinated persons, masking, and social distancing for gatherings.
We will still encourage persons to get the booster but do not require it at this time. We still need to keep track of who enters for services and keep the list for a minimum of a month. This is done by the greeter at services or the event leader.
Large gatherings requirements are the same and have not changed. And large gatherings still require an attestation.
More on this topic after the next reopening taskforce meeting in January.
With peace and in good health to all,
Barb
