Throughout this pandemic, your leaders have followed the rise and fall of cases in our county and around the country. We have stayed up to date on guidance from our bishop and state and county health departments. This past week a few changes have taken place that are changing how we are moving forward.
First, last week, covidactnow.org, the primary website we use to monitor COVID-19 cases in our community, moved Pierce County from yellow: medium risk, to orange: high risk of an outbreak. Because of this, we will be making a small change to how we will reopen to small groups next week. Rather than small groups being able to meet indoors, groups will now have to meet outdoors and be masked. We have set up canopies in the courtyard to make the outdoor setting more comfortable. In addition, the Meet the Pastor groups will continue to gather, and Pastor Cara and Pastor Melinda will continue to do porch and hospital visits when requested.
Second, the Delta variant, which has been shown to be more contagious than the original COVID-19 strain, is now the primary variant of the virus in the United States. The CDC reported that recent studies show that vaccinated individuals who become infected may be carrying more of the virus than originally thought and could transmit the virus to others. Because of this, the CDC released new guidance that recommends that all people, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks in public indoor spaces when the case levels are substantial or high in a county. In addition, Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department along with several other county health departments made this same recommendation earlier this week. While this does not change our policy of masking in our building, it does mean that small groups of vaccinated individuals will not be able to remove their masks when meeting together at the church.
While we do not know what risk level we will be at in September, our leadership continues to prepare to open for in person worship. We are making progress in our remodel of the sanctuary. Carpet and tile have been laid on the main floor of the sanctuary, the choir room, and sacristy. Pew refurbishment is expected to be completed this week or early next. The Trustees have hired a contractor to build the ramp and are working with an architect to prepare drawings for the city permitting process. In addition, we are researching equipment needed to continue our digital worship once we are in person again.
If Pierce County is in the orange, yellow, or green risk level in September, we will open for in person worship. However, if our county moves to the red: very high or severe risk of an outbreak on the covidactnow.org website, we will postpone opening for in person worship until we are back in the orange risk level. You can monitor what level we are at by going to covidactnow.org or our website. In addition, we have created a simple chart (see above) to help you see how our leadership plans to increase or reduce services based on our risk level.
If you have any questions, please to do not hesitate to reach out to us at 253-845-0547.