Dear WUU community,
We’re afraid we have some disappointing news to share. You may have seen that James City County is now a Covid hotspot, with daily new cases in the “very high risk” red zone on CovidActNow. Our public health & reopening teams have also just reviewed the new guidance from the UUA strongly urging that congregations in the “very high” or “severe” risk zones pause in-person worship immediately to help control the spread of the Delta variant.
This chart from CovidActNow helps illustrate where we are right now. Cases are climbing rapidly and it looks like we haven’t yet reached the top of the curve.
In consultation with WUU’s Public Health Advisory Task Force, Dr. Camilla Buchanan, Dr. Chris Llewellyn, and Dr. Susan Marcinkus, we have reviewed and adjusted WUU’s Covid safety guidelines. Here are the changes that WUU is implementing based on the UUA recommendations, effective immediately:
Guidelines for WUU events on campus
- Indoors: WUU groups of10 or fewer may continue to meet in the building; larger gatherings are on hold for now. Masks continue to be required and social distancing is extended to 6 feet.
- Outdoors: Large gatherings are suspended. For small or midsize gatherings, masks are required.
Sadly, this means that we will have to suspend our Sunday watch parties and put plans for full in-person Sunday services on hold. We are all deeply disappointed and eagerly await a return to better conditions soon! The good news is that we have learned quite a bit from our experience with the Sunday watch parties and we have strong plans in place to return to the sanctuary with precautions as soon as case rates stabilize below the red zone again.
In the meantime, online services will continue. Our religious education team will announce updated plans for children and youth soon.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at reopening@wuu.org. Let’s all stay safe and stay connected.
In faith and with love,
Your WUU Reopening Task Force
Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig
Austen Petersen
Lola Warren
Dave Wilcox