Updated COVID Guidelines, August 2021

The UUA updated its recommendations for congregations regarding COVID this month. The Board and Way Forward Task Force are just digesting this information now and so no new congregational policies have been made, but that will probably change soon.

I’ll summarize some of the most relevant recommendations in this column, and you can read the full set of recommendations yourself here <https://www.uua.org/leadership/library/delta-guidance> if you wish.

As you might imagine, it’s the rise of the Delta variant of the virus that has prompted the changes in what the UUA is recommending.

The UUA suggests that these recommendations and all our responses to the pandemic be guided by these key principles:

1. Root decisions in the values of inclusion and consent.
2. Follow the science.
3. Go slow and be flexible.
4. Be realistic with expectations of ourselves and others.

As we keep these principles in mind, here are the newest recommendations:

Upon consulting the public health professionals who have been advising us throughout the pandemic, for now, the UUA strongly recommends:

1. For all indoor gatherings, regardless of size, vaccination status, or area transmission risk: Require good ventilation, well-fitted masks, physical distancing of at least 6 ft, reduced occupancy, no singing, and no food, nor drinks.
2. Require well-fitted masks for all large outdoor events, for any outdoor event where unvaccinated children or other vulnerable people are included, and for outdoor gatherings of any size in counties where transmission is Very High or Severe (per the COVID Act Now data).
3. As children below age 12 cannot yet be vaccinated, hold religious education activities and multi-age programs outdoors. If children are indoors, ensure excellent ventilation, masking, physical distancing, and reduced room occupancy.
4. In areas where transmission risk is Very High or Severe, (per the COVID Act Now data), suspend all large, in-person (indoor and outdoor) gatherings such as worship, concerts, or fundraisers.
5. In areas where transmission risk is Low, Medium, or High (per the COVID Act Now data), small and mid-size gatherings, including limited-attendance worship, may be reasonably safe if indoor precautions for masking, ventilation, physical distancing and high vaccination rates are followed.
6. Create an expectation that vaccinations are required for everyone who is eligible. Work to have the highest vaccination rate possible in your community. We support requiring vaccinations for staff, lay leaders, and anyone spending time with children.

What does this mean for UU Saratoga?
It’s the job of the Board, advised by its task force and members of the congregation, to set policies for the congregation. In the meantime, there are things that I’m thinking about.

We are still on schedule for our our annual Sunday-after-Labor-Day water communion service taking place outdoors at High Rock Park. If you can attend in-person, please wear a mask. (And also bring your own seating and a small vial of water.) This service will also be simultaneously on Zoom. It’ll be a simple setup, depending on a mobile phone or two to do the Zoom streaming, but we’ve streamed events this way in years past and it has worked well. And smartphones have only gotten better in the meantime! (If you would be willing to volunteer a smartphone or tablet for Zooming our services online, please let me know!)

For the other Sundays in September, I imagine we will be working slowly toward incorporating in-person attendance. We will need to do more experimenting with how to incorporate 6-foot physical distancing. And we will also need to do some experiment to learn the new skills involved with multi-platform worship services — services with both in-person and online attendance. Figuring out how music might still be part of worship will also be a challenge.

For Religious Exploration for children this fall, I’m expecting outdoor programming only through the end of the year, perhaps on a schedule of once or twice each month. If you want to help make it happen for our kids, please let me know here: https://bit.ly/uusaratoga-SH21-22

We are doing really well as a congregation as those of us who can have been vaccinated. As the UUA recommends, let’s work toward some bragging rights as the community in Saratoga Springs with the highest vaccination rate!

We are working toward a clean air solution for our meetinghouse that will incorporate air purification units. We are also in the process of figuring out how we might increase the filtration performance of our current HVAC.

Emerging from the pandemic is not happening as quickly as we would like. But I know that we can be a model of both care and community in how we move forward!

Together is how we will move through this time because, as the UU minister Teresa Soto says, “All of us need all of us to make it.”

Blessings,
Rev. Joe