Communications, Congregations, Public Health
August 3, 2021 inAs of August 1, the CDC reports that Philadelphia, Bucks, Delaware and Montgomery counties are experiencing “substantial” community transmission of coronavirus.
The CDC recommends that all people, vaccinated or not, wear masks and maintain physical distancing in indoor public or multi-household gatherings. See this article explaining CDC guidance.
Unvaccinated persons, including all children under 12 (who cannot yet be vaccinated), are most at risk. There is evidence that persons who are fully vaccinated may become infected, and transmit the virus before they show any symptoms (and a very small percentage do).
Our synod’s guidance remains the same: First, do no harm. As Christians we do not want our gatherings to worsen transmission, illness, hospitalization or deaths in our communities. Protecting children (and their parents) and other who have not been vaccinated is a high priority.
We urge you to get vaccinated if you are not already, and to urge people in your congregations to get the vaccine.
The trend across our region has been increasing community transmission, as this animation covering the last 30 days taken from the CDC website shows (click image to view animation).