I’ve had several questions from pastors lately on what to do for church with this new surge. Let me help give some guidance based on data for your own area of when to go back to virtual (or move outdoors).
โ ๐๐ก๐จ๐ซ๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ฐ๐๐ซ: ๐๐๐ซ๐’๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐๐๐ง๐๐ – When should you go back to virtual or outdoors? When…
1. Positivity rates are more than 10%, or
2. >10 cases per 100,000, or
3. Hospitalization rates of ICU occupancy >75%
๐๐ง ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐, ๐ฐ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ง ๐จ๐ง๐ (๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ) ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐. ๐๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ, ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐. ๐๐ก๐๐ญ’๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ. ๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ซ๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ – ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐ – because many areas (if you are in Texas, that’s most of the state) are seeing all three together. I know I keep saying this – but, the pandemic keeps worsening. RIght now, these three metrics are exceeded at the same time – which equals a high risk to our communities, neighbors, church members, and hospitals – at the same time. It’s a perfect storm that is different than the first two surges in the spring and summer time. Frankly, I’m not sure how to stress the gravity of the situation because of these three metrics being exceeded at the same time. We are so close to vaccines rolling out (slowly but surely). But, right now is critical and the vaccines will not come soon enough for many of our areas. Please go virtual if your area exceeds these metrics.
โ ๐๐๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฉ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ:
1. Positivity rate – This is an indication of how well we are testing. If the number if above 5%, that means we are not testing enough to catch all cases – which indicates more spread can happen quickly. There are less than 5 states that are reporting positivity rates less than 5%. As a general rule, I’ve said we need to pull way back on church indoors when the positivity rate hits 8-10%. I still hold to that guideline. Anything over 10% indicates wildfire spread rather than simple fires of individual cases.
2. Cases per capita – This is another metric how widespread cases are in your area. This is also a red flag to us of what hospitalizations will look like in 2 weeks and deaths will look like 2-3 weeks after that. As a metric, anything over 10 cases per 100,000 people indicates accelerated spread. Anything over 25 is uncontrolled spread.
3. Hospitalization rates – States handle this differently. Most hospitals have a trigger warning when ICU occupancy hits 75% – this is when surge capacity starts to happen or when some elective surgeries are reduced or suspended.
โ ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ซ๐๐?
TEXAS – https://sph.uth.edu/dept/bads/covid19-dashboard
1. Positivity rates – click on ‘Hot Spots’ and hover over your county.
2. Cases per 100,000 – click on ‘Hot Spots’ and hover over your county.
3. Hospitalization rates (ICU occupancy) – click on ‘Hospitalization’ and scroll down to ‘ICU hospitalizations by TSA’. Look for the grey bar to indicate how many ICU beds are available.
OTHER STATES (here’s how to find your county) –
1. Positivity rates – https://covidactnow.org/?s=1485441&utm_campaign=dec2020&utm_medium=banner&utm_source=ces
2. Cases per 100,000 population – https://globalepidemics.org/key-metrics-for-covid-suppression/
3. Hospitalization rates – https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/covid-hospitals-near-you.html **There are caveats and reporting lags between local, state, and national entities. So, some of the numbers in the website might be different than your local or state health department.
โ ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ ๐จ ๐จ๐ง๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐? I know some churches are only closing for 2 weeks because of COVID+ members or clergy. Unfortunately, 2 weeks is likely not long enough with this surge. The peak is not projected until January 28th and then it will take through February to reach what we saw during the surge of the summer time. In other words, we will see the TOP of the summer surge by the end of February – that’s how why this surge is now. I would advise going virtual for at least 4 weeks to get everyone through the worst part of the surge (which will be coming). We are seeing vaccines roll-out, slowly but surely. This won’t be forever, but right now is critical. It’s not hard to see that in the data – this surge is not like the one in the Spring or the other in the Summer. In those surges, we did not see all three metrics exceeded at the same time – now we do which is a perfect storm.
โ ***Some practical tips:
1. If (that’s a risky if) you continue indoor worship, masks should be mandatory at all times (even in the sanctuary) and distancing should still be observed. This is more critical now with this surge. If you want to hear me to discuss all this in a video with other pastors, here’s the link. The first 15ish minutes is me talking about the data I presented in this post, and then we move into a Q&A with the other pastors to hear what they have done. We also discuss why and how the Church can lead the way out of this. https://tinyurl.com/y3gqefht
2. I would encourage you to move the line. With this surge, towing the line for your congregration needs to be virtual or masking at all times. The line used to be choosing between mandatory masking versus masking-as-a-choice for indoor worship. This surge warrants a different line. Please don’t make masks optional, especially in the sanctuary, if you continue indoor worship.
3. If you have any questions on your area, please let me know. Happy to help with clergy! I’ve included an example from my county of McLennan County.
โ And, how about some encouragement. I would love nothing more than the church to lead the way out of this – to go over and beyond what others are doing to love our neighbors. I know this is a hard decision for many of you. I hope this post has helped you see the gravity of the situation – and, that it is not forever! But, it is different than the other surges and warrants a different solution. It also highlights a new opportunity to our communities that need hope and relief. We, the Church, can be a huge part of that.
-Friendly neighbor pastor’s wife / epidemiologist โญ
โญโญโญโญโญโญโญ There are several new people on this site – welcome! Here’s my mantra for church during the pandemic and other posts I’ve done if you want to delve deeper: ๐๐ก๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ก, ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ง ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ง๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ข๐๐ง๐ฌ ๐. ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ฒ ๐ซ๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ.
Here are the posts where I talk about that more.
Let’s have Faith over Fear – https://tinyurl.com/yxsaatcf
…For our neighbors – https://tinyurl.com/y9ykykve
…While praying Psalm 91 and living Galatians 5 – https://tinyurl.com/y2od5n6f
…What if Christians led the way out of this? Redefining our freedom according to the Cross-https://tinyurl.com/y2qoow7t
I’m new to your blog>facebook>emails, but this has helped me take a different look at the situation. I truly would like to live by your statement…Redefining our freedom according to the Cross. What a beautiful statement.
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Thank you for your โOne Another- nessโ from a small town family doc in the trenches!
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