Current COVID-19 Precautions (Updated January 27, 2023)
- The COVID-19 Community Level is Low (as of Jan 26, 2023), because the rate of new COVID-19 hospital admissions has gone down since the prior week. (The Community Transmission Level in Elkhart County continues to be High.)
- We welcome everyone to gather in person, indoors, for weekly Sunday morning worship and Sunday school.
- Worship services will be live-streamed via Zoom at this link: https://zoom.us/j/9995275153.
- As of 10/16/2022, masks are optional for worship and other group settings, in accordance with current CDC guidelines. People may choose to mask at any time.
- While many in our faith family are thankful masks are no longer required, a fair number of us feel the need to be even more careful when at church, and some are deciding to return to joining worship by Zoom.
- We encourage everyone to stay up-to-date on vaccines & boosters and encourage anyone who is not feeling well to join us on Zoom.
- Parents should contact Sunday school teachers directly if they are sending kids to Sunday school during days 6 through 10 after a positive COVID test. During this time children are asked to wear a mask during Sunday school and sit apart from the group during snack.
- If Elkhart County’s Community Risk Level becomes “High” according to covidactnow.org, masks will again be required indoors for everyone over age 2.
- Sunday school teachers and child care providers will be required to be vaccinated and boosted.
- We continue to ask everyone to follow current CDC guidelines for Elkhart County. This includes:
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- Stay up to date on vaccination, including recommended booster doses.
- Get tested if you have symptoms
- People with symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19 should wear a mask.
- Avoid contact with people who have suspected or confirmed COVID-19.
- Follow recommendations for isolation if you have suspected or confirmed COVID-19.
- Follow the recommendations for what to do if you are exposed to someone with COVID-19.
- If you are at high risk of getting very sick, talk with a healthcare provider about additional prevention actions.
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- COVID-19 Vaccination Information:
- Anyone age 6 months and older may receive the safe, effective and free COVID-19 vaccine.
- Bivalent boosters are also now available for everyone 6 months and older.
- If two months have passed since you completed your primary vaccination or since you received your most recent booster, the CDC recommends you get an updated booster. People ages 6 months and older should get the bivalent booster two months after either their primary dose or most recent booster dose. Eligible individuals can get either the Pfizer or Moderna updated booster, regardless of which primary dose they received. Click here to find a location near you. You may also call Indiana 211 (866-211-9966) for help making an appointment. (Visit https://www.coronavirus.in.gov/vaccine/ for more information.)
- Small groups and other Assembly and Faith participants are welcome to reserve space in the meetinghouse. Check the Facility Use/Reservations Calendar here. Please contact the church office to reserve space.
- We ask everyone to follow current CDC guidelines for Elkhart County when gathering in the meetinghouse. Event organizers/hosts may request that their guests take additional precautions (such as universal masking).
- More Information
- Many of us are celebrating that our young children (6 months – 5 years-old) are now eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines. (See: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html).
- Assembly is blessed with both a large congregation (so that we cannot practice physical distancing in our worship space) and a very age-diverse congregation (including both elderly members who are at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19 even when vaccinated, and families with children who attend many different schools in the area). This presents us with challenges not all congregations have when considering how to safely gather for in-person worship.
- We are also blessed with a congregation that has a very high vaccination rate.
- If you have any questions or feedback regarding our COVID-19 policies, please contact Randy Roth, the chair of Leadership Group.
Current COVID-19 Public Health Data
The Centers for Disease Control
The COVID-19 Community Level for Elkhart County is displayed below (from https://covidactnow.org/us/indiana-in/county/elkhart_county/). Note that the “Community Level” is different from the CDC’s “Community Transmission Level“, which is what healthcare facilities use to determine infection control interventions. You can find both the Community Level & Community Transmission Level data for Elkhart County on the CDC website here. To see the Transmission Level, scroll down to the map, and choose “Community Transmission” as the “Data Type”.