COVID Task Force Q&A
"Therefore, we learn that the ability of a physician to prevent illness is a greater proof of his skill, than his ability to cure someone who is already ill." – Maimonides
(Yalkut Lekach Tov, Shmot, B'Shalach)
As you can read on the website, the PTBE Reopening Task Force is composed of a wide variety of professionals: medical, business, regulatory, legal, and communications. Our charter has been to investigate the current status of the pandemic, understand the implications for a multi-use organization like ours, and protect the Temple community, our staff, and our clergy. As vaccination rates rose across the county, we were able to facilitate the in-person option for the High Holy Days. Now, as the FDA approves vaccines for younger children and the community continues to embrace mask wearing, the Task Force is looking to begin relaxing some restrictions.
We understand the toll that COVID is taking on the congregation and the deep impact on families unable to fully celebrate life events, both joyful and sorrowful, on students forced into distance learning, and in groups unable to engage in person. By providing this set of questions and answers, we hope to give you a sense of the complexity of the issues and an understanding of the trade-offs we face in recommending policies. Some guiding thoughts:
PTBE is subject to a variety of different external guidelines
We are a religious organization, a school, and an employer with staff. In addition, we often provide food and we traditionally offer the facility to members and others for events. Each of these elements falls under different Federal, State, or County laws, rules, or guidelines.This is not a static situation
While San Mateo County has relatively high vaccination rates and some availability of monoclonal antibodies, we are only now beginning to vaccinate younger children (5-11), are seeing breakthrough infections, have shortages of rapid tests, and continue to watch mutations, like Omicron..We should be happy about activities but remain vigilant
San Mateo County is doing fairly well across the state. The Task Force is watching COVID statistics around the area, the country, and internationally. In that light, we are opening PTBE in different ways. While some restrictions or protocols may strike some individuals as onerous or unnecessary, we ask that you respect the thorough and thoughtful consideration that the Task Force has given and focus on the positive as we work to keep our community healthy and connected.
Below are some frequently asked questions and answers to help our community understand the complexity and focus areas of the Task Force. If you have other questions or concerns, feel free to direct them to the Task Force Co-Chairs, Cathy Polinsky and Dr. Jerry Saliman; Temple President, Roger Feigelson; or Executive Director, Kate Lauzar.
Rebuilding the Community
What things are the Task Force thinking of allowing or encouraging at this point?
The Task Force and Board are already allowing auxiliaries (like BEW and Brotherhood) and other small groups to meet with up to 30 people on campus with a few restrictions. We just restarted Oneg Shabbat to enable members to “schmooze” and enjoy challah and a few sweets after Friday night services . We also supported the Religious School and the recent BE Mitzvah retreat, both of which were in-person with appropriate rules. And starting in January 2022, the leadership has approved rules allowing indoor food at PTBE-sponsored events and restarting private events and rentals at the Temple.
Will PTBE continue to have both in-person and Zoom services for those still uncomfortable or unable to participate in face-to-face activities?
The plan is to continue the hybrid services. PTBE has long offered dial-in services for those unable to attend; the online services have been a success and broaden our ability to serve the entire congregation. Our goal is to ensure that we enable the maximum participation while protecting the health and safety of our congregants.
What are the plans to engage the older and less mobile groups across PTBE?
This is an on-going and challenging issue made even more difficult by the transitions with our clergy. We continue to work with the Senior Friendship Group and the Caring Task Force to promote outreach. We are also committed to ensuring that seniors can participate virtually in services and other activities. But we are also aware that many seniors and immuno- compromised members and family will be the most conservative in their participation. That said, Rabbi Lisa held a Zoom meeting with 20 members of the Senior Friendship Club just this past weekend with overwhelming success.
Will small groups be allowed to hold activities at PTBE? With what restrictions?
Leadership is now going to allow food and drink within the restrictions laid out for indoor dining by San Mateo County. However, we are not relaxing the masking requirement on campus: masks will still be required indoors except when eating or drinking. This will allow us to maximize socializing while minimizing the risks of being unmasked. Even as the county approaches an 80% vaccination rate (including school-age children), we have many families with children too young to be vaccinated, older members with health issues, and others wanting to err on the side of caution. As we wrote above, designing inclusive protocols is a balancing act so we can start welcoming the maximum number of people back to PTBE .
Revised Guidelines for events @ PTBE
How do the rules for onsite events change after January 1, 2022?
After the start of the New Year, the Board of Trustees has approved having food indoors, allowed BE-Mitzvahs events of up to 150 (including the Kiddish lunch), and PTBE-sponsored evening events up to the room capability . Masking will still be required indoors, except when eating or drinking. Vendors interacting with attendees will have to be vaccinated and wear masks, following PTBE staff requirements. Detailed rules are available from the PTBE office. We are following San Mateo county rules related to indoor dining and events and are subject to change.
Can I rent Fellowship Hall or another venue for a private event, like a Kiddush lunch?
Absolutely, as long as San Mateo County regulations continue to allow indoor events and dining. There are slightly different rules and restrictions for private vs. PTBE-sponsored events. Vendors must meet the requirements for vaccinations and masking and vendor agreements will include appropriate language waiving COVID-related liabilities with responsibility for contact tracing sitting with the renter. Specifically, all vendors must attest to following PTBE rules.
Separately, renters and hosts will indemnify the temple and are fully responsible for their guests, including following PTBE rules and any needed notification after the event. There is no vaccination requirement for guests, although the host may choose to impose more stringent requirements and be responsible for implementation. In addition, if PTBE-sponsored activities are happening at the same time (Erev Shabbat Service, Religious School, Torah Study), then the event must follow PTBE protocols for all attendees. Copies of the guidelines are available from the Temple office.
Why are there different rules for Temple events versus private uses?
When we rent the facility for private use – a Kiddush lunch versus a Shabbat Oneg – we delegate some of the responsibility and flexibility to the renters within our PTBE guidelines. For example, we work with our staff daily, know their vaccination status, and can set event rules specifically. For private use, we have to rely on the rental agreement. We are willing to allow the private party some freedom to host their event but are putting certain rules in place to protect our staff.
Setting Guidelines for PTBE
Why does it feel like the rules and guidelines keep changing?
First of all, the COVID situation has been fluid, as variants, vaccines, and knowledge of the virus evolved. More importantly, PTBE is not a single monolithic organization. We serve all ages, meaning those eligible for vaccines and those still too young to qualify. We run a religious school, maintain a building that hosts a variety of different activities and services. We have auxiliaries and volunteers like SSH who meet at Temple; and those that want to meet regularly, like the Senior Friendship Club. And we traditionally serve food and drink for Oneg, other sponsored events, and for rentals. Each of these groups and uses is covered by different policies, County and State guidelines, and our own desire to balance openness and safety.
How and why do Cal OSHA rules affect PTBE?
Simply put, PTBE is covered by Cal OSHA because we are an employer. We have staff, clergy, and teachers who are all protected by worker safety regulations. Cal OSHA updated its rules in June 2021 to account for workplaces with both vaccinated and unaccinated people, including guidelines for masks and testing. The Task Force believes strongly that nobody working at PTBE should be forced into an unsafe situation and we will continue to err on the side of protecting our employees.
How are the Task Force and the Board balancing the very modest risks for vaccinated people to gather/eat together against the ongoing loss to our community from continued restraints?
We are eager to allow more activities and gatherings, especially as boosters and youth vaccinations continue to progress. We have already tested a few activities: both the Brotherhood and Beth El Women held recent events on campus with food and drink outside. We also expect to begin allowing families to rent Fellowship Hall for events, albeit with some safety requirements. Most gratifyingly, Rabbi Lisa was able to lead the overnight BE-Mitzvah retreat offsite. These are all in addition to the hybrid services for the High Holy Days.
The balancing act is a tough one. We are very aware of breakthrough infections, the only recent approvals of vaccines for younger school age children, and continuing possibility of mutations beyond the delta variant. In this environment, there are often risks that individuals are willing to take that are difficult or inappropriate as policy for a complex place like PTBE. We also need to balance the desire for more openness against the need to expect certain behaviors for members, their families, and guests. Our goal is to have a set of policies that are easy to understand, consistent across activities, and flexible enough to cover most situations, knowing that any given individual could make a different assessment. As variants like Omicron continue to proliferate, we want our community to be safe and enable members to make the right decisions for themselves and their families.
Why is it taking so long to make some of these decisions?
With constituents of different ages, the breadth of activities and classes, and the ever-changing set of statistics and rules, the Task Force and the Board face a complex set of decisions. As one person expresses the desire to move quickly to reopen and focus on reconnecting the community now, another will call out aspects that point toward a more conservative approach. We all want things to return to normal as soon as possible – but in an inclusive, safe, and fair way. Also, the Task Force doesn’t make decisions on its own; we make recommendations to the Board and the process itself takes time as we try to include all voices.
As of today, is there a set date for a full reopening?
No, there is not a set date at this point. We are hoping that we can accelerate toward a more complete reopening after the first of the year. There are a number of Temple-wide activities that leadership would like to see happen. But with the amount of churn and flux, the Task Force will continue to monitor the situation. Rest assured that Temple leadership is committed to using all of our tools to encourage participation and engagement.
Finding More Information
The Reopening Task Force was assigned the responsibility to stay on top of the rapid changes, rules, and guidelines provided by County, State, and Federal experts. Organizations ranging from the CDC, to Cal Osha, to the San Mateo County Health Bureau provide updated information often at different times. Should you be interested in more information about COVID and the rules governing different activities and organizations, we are providing a selection of links. This is by no means comprehensive.
In wading through the information, we ask that you recognize that each person may interpret the statistics and commentary differently. If you do have any questions relative to PTBE, please just reach out and we’ll provide answers as best as possible.
San Mateo County Vaccination Data (includes entire population)
https://www.smchealth.org/data-dashboard/vaccination-totals-locations-data
San Mateo County Criteria for Lifting Indoor Mask Mandate
https://www.smchealth.org/data-dashboard/criteria-lifting-indoor-mask-mandate
CDC San Mateo County Weekly Cases, with Projection
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/forecasting/forecasts-cases.html
California Department of Public Health R-Effective Average, San Mateo County
https://calcat.covid19.ca.gov/cacovidmodels/
California Department of Public Health R-Effective Average (1.0 is stable; >1.0 is growing)
https://calcat.covid19.ca.gov/cacovidmodels
United States Reported New Cases
The Omicron Variant
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/omicron-variant.html