To explain Elaine's helpful comment about the Schreiner/Lesh household....For those who don't know, our daughter Bridget is very ill, with a poor prognosis, and appears to be extremely vulnerable to Covid. She snatched it out of thin air this fall even though none of us leave our apartment without an N95 mask on, and no one (e.g. maintenance) is allowed to enter our apartment without an N95 mask. Partly as a result, we've recently upgraded our precautions by buying a fit-test kit and discontinuing mask-person pairs that don't pass. (I can do this fit testing for anyone who wants it, by the way.) 

Obviously we don't expect our fellow ringers to be slaves to our admittedly rigid protocols! We understand that we come to ringing at our own risk. 

For anyone who does want to go the extra mile: we don't always sign up for ringing because with Bridget's condition we often don't know until the last minute whether she can be left alone. So not seeing our names on the sign-up list doesn't mean neither of us will be there. If you felt moved to do so, you could send us a private message to let us know that we might want to stay away (e.g. "I could possibly have been exposed on this day, I think there's virtually no chance I'm sick but wanted to let you know just in case you want to play it extra safe....") That would be welcomed but certainly not expected. 

Best regards, and thank you to all our friends for all your support,
Kathryn

_______________________________________
Dr. Kathryn Lesh
Research Professor of Mathematics, Union College
Research Affiliate, M.I.T. 
leshk@union.edu


On Thu, Jan 30, 2025 at 1:41 PM Sam Ratliff via Boston-change-ringers <boston-change-ringers@cosmos.phy.tufts.edu> wrote:
Agreed, we don't have a specific policy. A potential path forward would be to take some tests, use your judgement based on the exposure that you had, and if you're coming to practice because you're asymptomatic and testing negative, let people know ahead of time that you were exposed.

Hope that you stay healthy!

Sam
On Jan 30, 2025 at 12:56 PM -0500, Elaine Hansen <EHansen@minlib.net>, wrote:
> I (on no authority whatsoever, mind) don't think we have a specific
> exposure policy.
> It doesn't actually seem like you *had* an exposure if you were masked. I
> think you get to do what makes you feel comfortable (although in your
> shoes, I'd give the Schreiner/Leshes a wide berth for at least 5 days...)
>
> Do feel free to disagree...
>
> I've been utterly confused since the 'infecting all of Europe' trip, where
> the positive test results lagged the symptoms by a considerable margin....
>
> On Thu, Jan 30, 2025, 11:51 Laura Dickerson via Boston-change-ringers <
> boston-change-ringers@cosmos.phy.tufts.edu> wrote:
>
> > I did an extra volunteer shift on Tuesday at MGH. One of my colleagues
> > tested positive that night (asymptomatic). I was masked the whole time I
> > was in the building. He wasn't. My most recent shot was in December. I am
> > hoping I am protected enough by my actions and will be testing daily for a
> > while to be sure. I was negative today. Short-term question - presuming I
> > test negative tomorrow and on the weekend days, do I skip practice on
> > Saturday or service ringing on Sunday? Do we have a general policy based
> > on number of negative days since exposure?
> >
> > Laura Dickerson
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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