Hello again!
Given that the wastewater levels (https://www.mwra.com/biobot/biobotdata.htm) have fallen to around 400 units, masking will be optional as of today. The levels are still moving around, and historically, covid has been worse in the fall and winter, so we will keep an eye on the data and see what comes of it. Hopefully levels stay low this year!
Cheers!
On Aug 18, 2023 at 11:51 PM -0400, Sam Ratliff <sratliff118@gmail.com>, wrote:
Hi all,
The COVID wastewater levels (data from here: https://www.mwra.com/biobot/biobotdata.htm) have been fluctuating between 450 and 550 units for the north system over the last two weeks. As a point of reference, at the end of June when we sent out the masking survey, levels were below 100 units. In accordance with the results of the survey, masking will be mandatory until levels are consistently below 500 units. This will go into effect starting August 26th.
On Jun 25, 2023 at 9:23 PM -0400, Katarina Whimsy via Boston-change-ringers <boston-change-ringers@cosmos.phy.tufts.edu>, wrote:
Hey folks,
Sam (Tower Captain: Advent) and I (Tower Captain: Old North) took the time
to go through the survey results in order to make an Official Decision
about masking during tower bell ringing. (we are not qualified to speak
towards masking at handbell ringing on account of it having to adhere to
MIT policies)
Firstly, we'd like to thank everyone for your thoughtful and compassionate
input. We received 33 survey responses and almost as many comments --I've
attached an anonymized summary of the survey data at the bottom of this
email. The brief summary is that ~66% of people prefer a mask-optional
policy and ~75% of people prefer the windows to be open when weather
permits.
Secondly, we will be changing the policy as follows:
*Masks will be optional in the tower when...the windows are open...the
covid wastewater levels (https://www.mwra.com/biobot/biobotdata.htm
<https://www.mwra.com/biobot/biobotdata.htm>) are below 500 "Copies of
COVID-19 RNA per milliliter of wastewater"*
Additionally, if you are experiencing symptoms of respiratory illness, or
have had a recent covid exposure, please wear a mask (or don't attend).
This is true even if you have had a negative test --we don't want to spread
flus or colds throughout the tower either!
We will give one week's notice if/when masks become required again, and the
officers reserve the right to change the policy even if the wastewater
number has not reached 500 (eg, if the government re-institutes a state of
emergency)
This policy will go into effect starting on *Wednesday, July 5th*. At that
point, masks will be optional but still welcome/encouraged. Please do not
harass any ringer for wearing or not-wearing a mask during times when
masking is optional.
Thirdly, we had a few comments about getting air filters for the towers.
That will not immediately affect the policy, but we think it's a good idea
and would like to move forward with figuring out how to do that (including
asking the churches for permission to store, finding funds, etc)
Thank you again for your input. A link to the survey data is below:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kzuaXEdywNB-12Q_lekfVpWAMS7PORfQlueYs6x507I/edit?usp=sharing
~Kat and Sam
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