What will be your organization’s protocol? How will your church deal officially with COVID-19? Our org took a look at that question last week. In the web version of this item, we share the text block that we forged for our org. Would you please share yours, along with any relevant comments? Here’s what we came up with at Team Expansion:
“Reduce Risk: Team Expansion values its personnel and their families, along with all the people with whom we relate. As a result, we are constantly evaluating our stand regarding the growth and impact of the Corona COVID-19 virus and the diseases it causes. Effective immediately, the organization is not supportive of travel to any of the countries that have been flagged with a level 3 alert status by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These currently include China, South Korea, Italy, and Iran, but this list could grow in the days and weeks ahead. All team members should monitor https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices for updated notices on an ongoing basis. Further, the organization is asking that those residing in or traveling to countries with a level 2 alert status (currently only Japan) practice enhanced security per CDC guidelines. Our leadership will be evaluating the statuses of personnel currently residing in these lands on a case by case basis regarding their respective situations. Team members, family members, volunteers, and others who travel in or to these countries, or any other country that receives a level 3 alert for COVID-19 will not be allowed to come to the office or meet with their team upon returning. They will need to remain in and work from their home for 14 days without virus symptoms and will be required to monitor their health and limit contact with others. Please talk to your supervisor or the Personnel Department for more details on this and future updates regarding COVID-19, and watch your org email closely for updates to this protocol. (The CDC has a frequently-asked question page that is helpful as well: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/faqs.html. Above all, please join us in praying for all those who have been or are being impacted by this growing scourge. Pray for healing, containment, and a lasting cure. Thank you for your shared vision and partnership.”
How is our protocol similar or different from yours? Please click in a comment box and fill us in with your own version. Thanks so much for the help.
Pioneers-USA just posted this statement. https://pioneers.org/coronavirus/ It’s not as thorough as the one from Team Expansion, but we may add to it as things develop.
If you look up the statistics for Covid-19 on the CDC website you will note that worldwide, tens of thousands of people have been infected. If we allow for the fact that many of the infected remain essentially symptom free, perhaps the real number is more likely hundreds of thousands or if we stretch, a million. Of those, less than a thousand are in North America. Of those, a few hundred have required hospitalization or other intensive treatments. Of those, a couple dozen have died, mostly people who were denied access to truly proper medical care.
Now look at the data for flu this year from the same source, the CDC website. A Hundred million infected including over 30,000,000 in the USA alone. Hundreds of thousands of deaths including over 20,000 in the USA alone. Several hundred thousand in the USA alone required hospitalization or other focused care.
Now stand up, look me in the eye, and tell me that our response to Covid-19 makes any sense at all in light of our response to flu. We are collectively insane.
your reflections are significant.
Hi Jonathan. Thanks for your comments. Many of us have been filtering our response intentionally — because we are aware of the way news stories seem to spin up out of control. However, let’s also avoid simply minimizing this situation and referring to it as “insanity.” I’m no health expert, believe me. But Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, regularly quotes that a typical 10-year average fatality rate for seasonal flu is 0.1%. (See, for example, the New England Journal of Medicine, https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2002387 .) This means that if 1000 people get the flu, 1 person (still so sad!) dies from the flu. That’s tragic. Current studies from the World Health Organization on COVID-19, however (as of March 5th anyway), put that fatality rate for COVID-19 at something between 2 and 3.4% overall ( https://www.sciencealert.com/covid-19-s-death-rate-is-higher-than-thought-but-it-should-drop) . That means if 1000 people get COVID-19, between 20 to 34 of them die. So, I guess it depends on the person to whom we’re talking as to whether or not we are “collectively insane.” If you’re talking to one of the family members of the 20 to 34 who perished, the truth of the matter is — COVID-19 is 20-34 *times* as deadly as the flu. That’s no small matter. If only 1 million people in the USA end up with COVID-19, we will “only” lose 20,000-34,000 of them to death. But if half of our population in the USA were to get sick from COVID-19, we could be looking at as many as 11.1 million people perishing, which is roughly equivalent to 27 times the number of Americans who died during all of World War II — combined. Make no mistake: This illness has a devastating potential to do enormous harm to whatever country it strikes. For this reason, I would argue that those who taking these desperate measures (like closing universities or national borders) are not necessarily all collectively insane. : )
As a small addition to what Editor said. There is a great deal of fear involved in the reactions some people have had, purchasing all the toilet-paper and hand-sanitizer, etc. I could see how this may appear as insanity, but if you replace “insanity” with the word, “fear”, it is much more helpful for us as we try to figure what the Christian response should be. As with Y2K, it is our hope that this situation blows over without much of a blip. But, there honestly is going to be a major blip, even if we only look at the economic repercussions of what has already transpired. Some countries are doing their best to shut down as much of everything they can until this blows over, which is going to have massive economic after-shocks. There are some very potentially serious health threats, as the editor pointed out. If enough people take it seriously, we will not have the opportunity to see how bad it could get. If enough people blow it off, we may see how bad it could be. But regardless, we are Christians. The question is not “is this world insane”; we know the world is fallen and contrary to God, which is a form of insanity. The question is what should we, as Christians, be doing about it. Our responsibility as Christians is to love the world as Christ loves the world. The church should be active participants in caring for the population of our country. Most of the “insane” responses we see are because of a deep-rooted terror that courses through people who worry they may be shortly be facing death. As Christians, we need to find the balance between responding in fear and not responding at all. Sitting back and doing nothing, while the world shakes in terror, is not a response of love; therefore we do not have that as a viable option for our group. The question posed on this list is “What is your response going to be.” Maybe we should add to that question and ask, “and how does, or how can our response bring comfort, safety, and help to this fallen world?” I, for one, am looking forward to seeing more examples of the policies our group have come up with.
Great response, Tim.
These are MTW (Mission to the World) agency of the PCA (Presbyterian Church in America)
Guidelines
First, set a bookmark in your browser to the CDC Coronavirus website. There, you will find topics on “What you should know,” including “How it spreads,” “Symptoms,” “Prevention and Treatment,” and “Testing.” There is also an important section on “Situation Updates,” where you will find a “Situation Summary” that lists travel guidance for various countries: Level 1, Practice Usual Precautions; Level 2, Practice Enhanced Precautions; Level 3, Avoid Non-essential travel. These you can find easily by level on this CDC website for travelers. You should also monitor the International SOS website for alerts (member number: 11BYCA787539). You can monitor information on their website, or get information for where you are by downloading the International SOS Assistance app for your phone. Every employee is subscribed to this service through that one member number.
The following are guidelines to help in protecting yourself, family and teammates:
1. Personal Care
Because coronavirus is a respiratory virus and spread similarly to the common cold or flu, it is spread through coughs and sneezes. Take the same sensible measures you would with flu, covering your cough and staying home when you show any signs of fever, cough or shortness of breath.
Wash your hands thoroughly (20 seconds) often. Handwashing is best, but if not possible, use hand sanitizer.
Avoid touching your mouth, nose or eyes.
Masks, except N95 respirators, are not thought to be helpful. Many medical sources suggest only wearing respirators if you are sick yourself in order to avoid spreading contamination. However, if you are displaying symptoms, you should be at home.
If you find yourself experiencing symptoms of fever, coughing and/or shortness of breath (from the CDC website):
STAY HOME, except to get medical care
Separate yourself from people and animals in your home
Call your doctor or clinic to discuss if you should go to the ER. Also, Drs. Henson and Kim in Atlanta are making themselves available by Zoom through a CareHere appointment, which can be booked on the CareHere website or by emailing them through this link.
Wear a face mask and clean all high-touch surfaces each day. Avoid sharing household items.
Return to work after your doctor says you are okay and you have a body temperature of less than 100.4 degrees for 24 hours.
If you need to be evacuated, note that iSOS is highly experienced in evacuating patients with infectious disease. iSOS has the medical and technical capability to undertake international evacuation of patients with COVID-19 infections, however their experience in such circumstances is that the feasibility of doing so is dependent on the authorization of Governmental, Health, and Aviation Authorities. Therefore, there may be a significant lead-time to confirm the feasibility of such evacuations as these variables are beyond the control of iSOS.
If you have travel planned to an impacted country, you will want to reconsider such travel. The CDC website lists and updates travel advisories for such countries. Currently, travelers from China to some other countries may be quarantined for up to 14 days. Other countries could be added in future to those currently at the Warning Level 3 stage, resulting in quarantines. We would not approve non-essential travel to Level 3 countries without approval from the International Director.
If you are located in an impacted country, it may be better to remain there, especially if you are symptomatic, so as not to risk spreading the virus to others. If you are not symptomatic, leaving an impacted country would mean traveling with others who likely are carrying the virus, increasing exposure, and would also likely result in quarantine.
If you are over age 50 and have (or someone in your family has) a chronic health condition, you might consider leaving an impacted country. Please consult with your one-up and Dr. Henson or Dr. Kim in making that decision.
2. Team Care
Telecommute (work from home) should be considered whenever possible.
Consider cancelling or excusing yourself from non-essential local gatherings.
If you need to care for a sick family member, take whatever time away is needed for their care. Remember to care for yourself while caring for them, and allow ample time to make sure you’re free of the virus before gathering again with others.
If you use community equipment, tables, computers, or other shared items, wipe them down with antiseptic wipes before using them.
The CDC and iSOS give daily updates on their websites. Check them for the latest updates.
We will be monitoring the situation and will be in communication as we have additional information for you.
Wow Hugh. Great job on being super-thorough!
As an another addition to the good things the editor and Tim said:
I know this is not exactly on the subject, but should we as Christians cease the day and talk more about the judgement of God as has been done in this tweet recently:
https://twitter.com/Freetruths/status/1236250750029828096
“#coronavirusus foretold in #Bible! Read it to find out about prophecy and remedy. Retweet.”
The corona virus is indeed foretold in the sense that plagues (infectious diseases) are prophesied by Jesus. Therefore, could it be used to talk about the Gospel? Repentance brings release from fear.
Here’s a list of questions and resources that churches can ask as they compile their policy.
https:// [removed space] docs.google [dot] com/document/d/1qo3LlDZHCZ2sHAiOsDvviCZT60b28lKp2NWzjkfZyBU/edit?usp=sharing
The document itself allows commenting, so your feedback there or reply here is appreciated if you can suggest more questions or resources.
Here’s the protocol that our church did. It seems good. What do YOU think?
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Dear Fern Creek Family,
How WE are committed to keep our building clean:
1. We will disinfect highly-touched surfaces before Sunday and Wednesday programming such as doors, handles, tables, check-in stations, and sinks. We are closing water fountains; cups of water will be available in the lobby.
2. Kids’ rooms will be disinfected before Sunday and Wednesday programming. Caregivers will continue to sanitize kids’ toys after kids have put them in their mouths. Sanitizer will be placed in every room and at check-in. Caregivers will wash/sanitize hands before and after each class. The liberal use of sanitizer will be encouraged.
3. Our Coffee Ministry and food servers will wear gloves when they serve.
4. We will provide additional hand sanitizer stations around the building for everyone to use.
5. Beginning this Sunday, March 15, 2020, we will stock each pew with individual, sealed communion elements. Please hold onto the used containers and dispose of them in the trash containers as you leave.
6. Until the risk is reduced, we will forgo greeting time during worship. Please be aware of new faces and warmly greet them before and after service time.
How YOU can help stop the spread of the virus:
1. Stay at home when you or a family member are sick.
2. Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom, before eating and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
3. Cover your sneeze or cough with a tissue or your arm.
4. Get in the habit of NOT touching your face so often.
5. Forgo hugs and handshakes at church for a wave or a friendly smile.
6. Pray for those impacted by the virus.
FCCC Online:
If you or a family member are sick or need to stay home during this time, you are welcome to watch the LIVE 11am Sunday service on our Facebook page.
We must also remember that God has not called us to live in fear but in faith. As the apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 1:7, “For the Spirit of God does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline.” Our prayer is that God will fill all of us with these three gifts, no matter what comes our way.
-FCCC Leadership
One of our peer orgs wrote this protocol:
Dear ____ Family-
In light of last night’s US presidential address where it was announced there would be suspended travel from Europe to the United States for 30 days in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, we’ve taken a careful look at our current travel policy. Your health and well-being, of course, continue to be the primary concern in the decisions we make. Although the risks are currently low, we have chosen to exercise added measures of caution for a time.
Our org is temporarily suspending all non-essential international travel for our missionaries and also all non-essential international and domestic travel for all of our U.S.-based staff. These temporary travel suspensions will be in place for the next 30 days, ending on April 15. If you have travel plans within the next 30 days already in place, please contact your Strategy Area Director for recommended next steps.
It is our recommendation that our partners in the U.S. not travel to visit our missionaries, partners, or projects during this 30-day period. Ultimately, partners will need to make their own decisions, which we recommend they do in consultation with their medical providers.
Travel plans scheduled for dates after April 15 should continue to be made and held. If we need to change additional plans because of COVID-19, it would be much closer to the time of the event.
This decision was made in alignment with current local, state, and national U.S. government recommendations intended to slow down the transmission of COVID-19 through limiting non-essential travel and increasing social distancing practices. We will be instituting work-from-home practices as needed over the next 30 days in an effort to not only limit transmission but also to protect the most vulnerable members of our communities, churches, and families.
We will reevaluate this decision weekly and provide updates to this announcement weekly.
Please be in prayer for those of us who are currently traveling, for those whose plans are suddenly changing, and for those who are most vulnerable to this disease in our communities.
Peace of Christ,
[Executive Director’s signature]
Here’s the protocol note from the Missio Benefits group health insurance (the group health from Missio Nexus):
Dear Missio Benefits Family,
As a follow-up to our March 2nd Q&A we would like to confirm how Missio Benefits is responding as the COVID-19 situation continues to develop. Our top priority is to protect the health and well-being of our community. As such effective immediately we are pleased to confirm the following:
• Missio Benefits will cover 100% of COVID-19 testing, regardless of which plan you may be enrolled in. Similar to a preventive benefit – waiving co-pays, deductibles and co-insurance.
• Missio Benefits will now cover 100% of all telehealth visits, regardless of which plan you may be enrolled in. For your reference we have attached Domestic and Global brochures with instructions on how to utilize telehealth services.
It’s important to remember that benefits tied to office visits are not changing. As always, we highly recommend utilizing your primary care physician (PCP) should the need for testing arise given the significant amount of savings to you and your family. Below is a summary of typical US cost associated with where you receive healthcare services:
• Average PCP Visit = $100-$150
• Average Urgent Care Visit = $250-$400
• Average Emergency Room (ER) Visit = $2,500-$4,000
Remember, the ER should be utilized for emergency situations only and may also represent the highest risk for exposure to COVID-19 and other illnesses given the critical/advanced condition of those that may visit the ER. Of course prevention is the first important step. If an individual traveled to an area impacted by COVID-19 or was exposed to someone with confirmed COVID-19 infection and feels sick or has difficulty breathing:
• Seek care right away. Before you go to a doctor’s office, call ahead and explain your symptoms and recent travel
• Consider telehealth medical care options (now covered 100%) that allow you to stay home and still get care – brochures attached
• Avoid contact with others
• Do not travel and avoid public places
• To prevent person-to-person spreading, please keep the following in mind:
o Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol
o Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth
o Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash
o Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces
The CDC recommends avoiding non-essential travel to several countries. Before traveling, consult travel guidance from the CDC (www.cdc.gov). Additionally, Cigna has put together resources, information, and helpful links on Cigna.com to keep members up-to-date and informed. We also encourage you to follow the guidance provided by local health authorities, the World Health Organization (www.who.int) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov).
Should you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team at missio@enterpriseriskstrategies.com or visiting us at http://www.missiobenefits.com. May the peace, love, joy and light of Christ be with you.
All the best,
Here’s Best Buy’s policy, just FYI:
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To our customers,
Like so many of you, we have spent the last several days and weeks learning about the coronavirus (COVID-19) and how it is impacting our world. For Best Buy, that means understanding how it affects our employees, customers and communities, and then making the necessary adjustments to our work and operations.
We have one simple objective that guides us: keeping you and our employees safe. This has been at the center of our conversations every step of the way. With that in mind, we have made several moves in our business in response to the threat of the coronavirus.
We have ramped up cleaning services at our stores and are adding hand sanitizer at the front entrances and at all cash registers. Sanitizing wipes are near workstations and counters so that employees can keep them continuously cleaned.
We are closely following the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) guidelines and recommendations on the steps we can take to help prevent the spread of the virus. We have shared specific instructions with our employees on the importance of washing their hands and staying home if they feel sick or are returning from an area of the world identified as posing a coronavirus-related risk. Per CDC recommendations, we will ask employees who have traveled to such locations or have been exposed to others who have traveled to such locations to self-quarantine for 14 days.
A strict travel policy for our employees is in place, and we have canceled meetings with large gatherings, again to do what we can to help prevent the spread of the illness.
If you don’t feel well, or choose not to visit one of our stores, of course we are ready to serve you at BestBuy.com or through the Best Buy app.
We know that many of you have scheduled in-home consultations, deliveries, installations or repairs with us. If you have any concerns, we will be happy to partner with you to reschedule your appointment at no additional cost. Simply call 1 888 BEST BUY, and we will take care of it. For in-home consultations, we can arrange a consultation via phone or video with one of our experts if you prefer, or we can help you reschedule your appointment. Also, upcoming workshops offered in store may be canceled. If you signed up for a class that has been canceled, you’ll receive an email confirming the cancelation.
We will continue to closely monitor the situation and do all we can to protect you and our employees.
Thank you
A worker at Wheaton submitted this resource. (Thanks!)
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Thanks for this resource! I wanted to let you know that the Humanitarian Disaster Institute at Wheaton College just published a coronavirus resource webpage for churches that includes our new preparedness manual, planning template, articles, media resources, and webinar series, all available athttps://www.wheaton.edu/academics/academic-centers/humanitarian-disaster-institute/covid-19/. I thought these may be helpful for your audience.
Following is a bit more detail about the resources that we are launching:
Resource Page: The resource webpage features recent HDI articles and media outreach to help equip churches for the coronavirus.
Preparedness Manual and Planning Template: We also just published two new resources on the resource page: (1) “Preparing Your Church for Coronavirus (COVID-19): A Step-by-Step, Research-Informed and Faith-Based Planning Manual” and “Coronavirus Church Planning Template.” One of the unique features about this manual and template is that pastors and church leaders can download, complete, and save their plan digitally.
Webinar Series: Beginning this Friday, March 13th (noon CST) we will start a new time-limited webinar series on church preparedness and response to COVID-19. We plan to continue to offer a new webinar each week on the same day and time as needed to help churches adapt to the potential changing needs and challenges ahead.
All these materials are free and without cost to users and can be found at: https://www.wheaton.edu/academics/academic-centers/humanitarian-disaster-institute/covid-19/
Hashtag: We will be encouraging churches to use #COVID19CHURCH to share how they’re preparing and responding, ask questions, and connect with each other as they consider how to faithfully prepare.
Thanks,
This protocol (or, at least, email) is from an investment fund called the Soloman Foundation.
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As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to spread, we at The Solomon Foundation (TSF) are working diligently to insure we can protect our staff, maintain our day to day operations and serve our churches and investors all across the country. On Thursday our leadership team established a COVID-19 Task Force that will help us manage any affects the crisis may cause for TSF. … They are meeting daily to assess our business continuity plan to ensure top quality customer service.
1. How will the COVID-19 affect our staff:
• We have and will continue to maintain a clean and healthy work environment.
• We have implemented and tested the ability for our staff to work remotely if necessary.
• We have placed a two-week travel ban on our staff with limited exceptions.
2. How will the COVID-19 affect our day to day operations:
• As part of the business continuity plan, on Friday all operations of TSF were ran remotely. I am pleased to report all operations ran with no interruptions.
• Our offices will resume normal operations on Monday, March 16.
• Our reserve funds at TSF are NOT invested in the stock market which eliminates our exposure to the market volatility.
3. How will the COVID-19 affect churches?
• We are monitoring the impact on church services across the US.
• We are closely following the cancelations, closings and government announcements in each state.
• We have set up a private Facebook page and beginning Tuesday, we will be holding a weekly Zoom call to connect, resource and encourage Pastors.
We know these are uncertain times for all of us and we also know that God is in control! “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control”. (2 Timothy 1:7)
If you have any question or concerns please call our offices
Some agencies and churches are pausing all their short-term trips. Others still waiting it out. What is YOUR church doing?
Church is now online (livestreamed on Youtube) here in Winnipeg, Canada. Here’s Pastor Ron’s explanation for cancelling in-person gatherings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CR9bIILwhw&feature=youtu.be
Here’s another example of protocols and resources for COVID-19 (Thanks Jon M.!):
https://www.zywave.com/covid-19-resource-center/
Here’s another protocol page that JED found — by Dr. David Williams regarding Prevention & Possible Treatment (should anyone get it).
https://www.healthydirections.com/coronavirus-pandemic
Interesting to read some of the comments in the light of where we are at today, one month later.
For sure, Peter!