The Re-Opening team met on March 8, 2022 and discussed the following:
COVID conditions have improved significantly over the last month in our community and across the country. The CDC has updated their guidance on masking and other risk mitigation strategies. Under the new guidance from CDC face masks are now considered optional and universal masking is no longer recommended during times of low COVID risk. The CDC is currently designating La Crosse County as low COVID risk.
The COVID pandemic continues to evolve and many things are different now as compared to last fall including:
- Low and falling case rates
- High level of population immunity due to vaccination and following the previous large Delta and Omicron surges
- A predominant strain (Omicron) that is behaving less dangerously than prior strains
- Widespread availability of vaccines including booster shots for those eligible
- Widespread availability of COVID testing
- Availability of high-quality masks such as a KN95 and N95 masks for those who wish to continue masking for personal protection
- Improved ventilation in our church building
- New COVID treatments for those who become infected and are eligible for treatment due to increased risk of complications
For all these reasons, we now feel comfortable aligning our COVID practices with the new guidance from the CDC. Therefore, as of Saturday, March 12th face masks will be considered optional while attending worship services and other activities at English Lutheran Church.
We understand that after so many months of mandatory masking, some will likely cheer this news while others may be concerned about ongoing COVID risk.
As we make this transition we encourage a common sense and loving approach, reminding the congregation that anyone is welcome to continue to wear a face mask for their own protection if they prefer to do so.
Knowing that there will be a variety of levels of concern about COVID risk, it may make sense to ask someone sitting near you, “I see you are wearing a mask. Would it make you more comfortable if I wore one too?”
For those who continue to mask we strongly encourage you to choose a high quality mask such as a KN95 or N95 for the best protection. We will continue to have masks available at the parking lot and King Street (by the sanctuary/office) entries.
As we make this transition, we encourage members to continue to practice voluntary social distancing including a distanced sharing of the peace.
Some roles at church will continue to mask for safety such as food servers and communion servers, and we will encourage maintaining adequate distancing during communion lines.
As always, we will continue to track how things go and adjust course as needed. We would also like to remind everyone that the new CDC guidance does call for universal masking again in the future if case numbers and hospitalizations spike significantly. Hopefully that will not occur anytime soon, and we will continue to enjoy a period of relatively low COVID risk this spring and summer.
Thank you once again for your ongoing patience and understanding as we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic together. Please feel free to reach out to anyone on the team with questions or concerns.
In Christ,
The Reopening Team
