COVID precaution: reflections and aspirations - Summer 2024
As with everything in MM, this has been a work in progress. Once MM has a sturdier structure for organizing, we hope to create an Access Team which will provide us with more ability to create more accessible events to more people. Until then, here’s an outline of how MM has organized around COVID risk.
We love Melanie Kay-Kanterwitz’s ideas about calibrating Jewish spaces to the diversity of Jewish communities. She says:
"Given the multicultural nature of the Jewish community, inside “the” Jewish community we should expect to experience the simultaneity of home and strangeness. If we are at an event that claims to be for the whole Jewish community, at any given moment something must feel unfamiliar to someone, it just shouldn't be the same people."
Our philosophy of access is a riff on that idea:
Due to the diversity of access needs of our community, some events may not be accessible to everyone, but it should not be the same people whose access is restricted every time. We can continue to strive to create events that are accessible to as many people as possible.
In this spirit, MM has maintained online services, virtual healing spaces, outside events, masked events, use of amplification for in person events, events with food, events without food, events with stairs, some on all flat ground, etc.
Due partly to state-sanctioned denialism of the ongoing COVID pandemic, there is a major divide across people’s awareness and risk-tolerance of COVID infection. The COVID data we use to ground MM’s policies is available through the work of many public health and disability justice activists.
From Peoples CDC
In 2023 alone, COVID killed over 75,000 people in the US. We continued to see over 1,000 weekly COVID deaths as of February 10, 2024. The risk of Long COVID is about 10% following a single infection. As of March 4, 2024, the Census Bureau found 17.6% of US adults reported ever having experienced Long COVID (almost 35 million people), and 6.7% of US adults are currently experiencing Long COVID. COVID is known to commonly cause long-term sequelae across a broad range of organ systems, with repeated infections worsening the effects. We still lack specific treatments for Long COVID.
And here within MM, we have members who are struggling with long COVID, family members who have passed from COVID, family and friends with long COVID. We also have MM members and dear ones who are immune-compromised.It is our responsibility as a community to care for eachother and protect each other. We recommend you take a look at this resource if all this talk is making you want to shut down.
The MM admin team has maintained an ongoing dialogue about COVID precautions. We want to share our current thinking and some struggles we have encountered while navigating COVID safety at in-person events.
Some recent additions we have made to increase COVID safety:
Some of us may be wondering, “what is best practice for COVID precautions?” The goal is always to minimize spread by layering different practices. Here is how we currently understand best practice:
We also recognize that for some, the practice of masking and/or social distancing when in groups has become frustrating and challenging. Some of us are responding to the wider cultural shift and CDC guidelines around COVID prevention. Some of us long for more precaution, but lack the ability to maintain safe practices due to the circumstances of our lives: job requirements, young children etc. For some, masks can cause difficulty in communication both due to lack of ability to read facial expressions and lower audio quality. We have heard from parents of young or multiple children about the struggle to be at events that are mask mandatory.
Again our goal is for all of us to be safe, to reduce the spread of preventable illness, and to build a beautiful radical jewish community l’dor v dor. We recognize the need to bring in more members of MM, especially those most impacted by COVID and those impacted negatively by mask requirements, to share their experiences and help craft wiser policy. We hope for now folks can refer to the above and continue to reach out to the admin team for questions and clarification. While we put these thoughts together a lot of what has made MM such a sweet community is trusting in the wisdom of ALL of us. Trusting we are doing our best and that we are trying and making mistakes and that we can repair.
Lots of love Admin team - Alli, Diane, Esther, and Marlene
PS:
Resources we use when thinking about COVID precaution we recommend:
We love Melanie Kay-Kanterwitz’s ideas about calibrating Jewish spaces to the diversity of Jewish communities. She says:
"Given the multicultural nature of the Jewish community, inside “the” Jewish community we should expect to experience the simultaneity of home and strangeness. If we are at an event that claims to be for the whole Jewish community, at any given moment something must feel unfamiliar to someone, it just shouldn't be the same people."
Our philosophy of access is a riff on that idea:
Due to the diversity of access needs of our community, some events may not be accessible to everyone, but it should not be the same people whose access is restricted every time. We can continue to strive to create events that are accessible to as many people as possible.
In this spirit, MM has maintained online services, virtual healing spaces, outside events, masked events, use of amplification for in person events, events with food, events without food, events with stairs, some on all flat ground, etc.
Due partly to state-sanctioned denialism of the ongoing COVID pandemic, there is a major divide across people’s awareness and risk-tolerance of COVID infection. The COVID data we use to ground MM’s policies is available through the work of many public health and disability justice activists.
From Peoples CDC
In 2023 alone, COVID killed over 75,000 people in the US. We continued to see over 1,000 weekly COVID deaths as of February 10, 2024. The risk of Long COVID is about 10% following a single infection. As of March 4, 2024, the Census Bureau found 17.6% of US adults reported ever having experienced Long COVID (almost 35 million people), and 6.7% of US adults are currently experiencing Long COVID. COVID is known to commonly cause long-term sequelae across a broad range of organ systems, with repeated infections worsening the effects. We still lack specific treatments for Long COVID.
And here within MM, we have members who are struggling with long COVID, family members who have passed from COVID, family and friends with long COVID. We also have MM members and dear ones who are immune-compromised.It is our responsibility as a community to care for eachother and protect each other. We recommend you take a look at this resource if all this talk is making you want to shut down.
The MM admin team has maintained an ongoing dialogue about COVID precautions. We want to share our current thinking and some struggles we have encountered while navigating COVID safety at in-person events.
- Major holidays hosted by Mending Minyan
- Masks mandatory if indoor for adults and children who are capable with kn95s at door
- Air filters and open windows and door when possible
- Food has been an issue with maintaining masking at both purim and pesach- we are exploring how to better provide for everyone at next year's purim, pesach and any major holidays that include food.
- People are encouraged to test and remain home if COVID positive or feeling under the weather
- Some rituals during holiday were online
- Friday night shabbat gatherings
- COVID safety precautions have been decided upon by the host(s)
- All precautions or lack thereof shared prior to the event
- Online option once a month.
Some recent additions we have made to increase COVID safety:
- Admin team can cover cost of purchasing high-quality masks for any events
- Hosted a kab shab at public space with no food outside at location with enough room for social distancing
- Hosting learning activities outside with social distancing and masking
- Including information about COVID precautions for non-MM events shared on listserv
Some of us may be wondering, “what is best practice for COVID precautions?” The goal is always to minimize spread by layering different practices. Here is how we currently understand best practice:
- Masking with N95>KN95>surgical mask
- Outdoors
- Social distance
- Air filters
- Testing
- Prior to going to events, people mask when in public spaces like shopping, public transit.
We also recognize that for some, the practice of masking and/or social distancing when in groups has become frustrating and challenging. Some of us are responding to the wider cultural shift and CDC guidelines around COVID prevention. Some of us long for more precaution, but lack the ability to maintain safe practices due to the circumstances of our lives: job requirements, young children etc. For some, masks can cause difficulty in communication both due to lack of ability to read facial expressions and lower audio quality. We have heard from parents of young or multiple children about the struggle to be at events that are mask mandatory.
Again our goal is for all of us to be safe, to reduce the spread of preventable illness, and to build a beautiful radical jewish community l’dor v dor. We recognize the need to bring in more members of MM, especially those most impacted by COVID and those impacted negatively by mask requirements, to share their experiences and help craft wiser policy. We hope for now folks can refer to the above and continue to reach out to the admin team for questions and clarification. While we put these thoughts together a lot of what has made MM such a sweet community is trusting in the wisdom of ALL of us. Trusting we are doing our best and that we are trying and making mistakes and that we can repair.
Lots of love Admin team - Alli, Diane, Esther, and Marlene
PS:
Resources we use when thinking about COVID precaution we recommend:
- People’s CDC
- People's PPE
- COVID-19 & Accessibility Checklists and Resource Guide
- Jewish COVID resilience network - A great place to start if all this COVID safety talk has your nervous system jacket up like you thought this was over and why are we spending so much effort talking about it.