North Carolina has seen a dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks and, increasingly, in the more highly contagious omicron variant. Hospitals and the healthcare workforce are strained. As weary as we all are of the restrictions and inconvenience COVID has caused us, we hope you will not let down your guard. Case rates have not been updated on the NC Health Department site due to the holiday weekend but continue to be at…
Current guidelines for gathering at New Garden Friends Meeting [first published January 4] All group activities at NGFM are structured to be as inclusive and COVID-safe as possible. Nevertheless, we urge all New Gardeners to be mindful of the update above from our COVID medical advisers. Please make decisions about gathering at New Garden Friends Meeting and elsewhere based on your personal level of risk for serious COVID disease and the risks that your exposure to…
Update from the COVID Medical Advisory Group North Carolina has seen a dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, including the delta variant and, increasingly, the more-highly-contagious omicron variant. Hospitals and the healthcare workforce are strained. As weary as we all are of the restrictions and inconvenience COVID has caused us, we hope you will not let down your guard. We still have much to learn about the omicron variant. Vaccines are your best protection…
Update from the COVID Medical Advisory Group North Carolina has seen a dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, including the delta variant and, increasingly, the more-highly-contagious omicron variant. Hospitals and the healthcare workforce are strained. As weary as we all are of the restrictions and inconvenience COVID has caused us, we hope you will not let down your guard. We still have much to learn about the omicron variant. Vaccines are your best protection…
The COVID Advisory Group last met 12/6/21, and recommended that protocols for New Garden Friends Meeting continue mostly the same through the Holiday season. Therefore, semi-programmed Meeting for Worship (MFW) will be outdoors, for the present but otherwise now by Zoom and Facebook Live at 11 am. Friends will be notified if weather does not permit in-person outdoor worship. Unprogrammed MFW may take place outdoors or indoors, in accordance with current masking and distancing protocols. Other small group meetings indoors at the Meeting House…
Infectious disease experts are still reevaluating Holiday advice given the discovery of the highly contagious COVID Omicron variant. This variant has now been isolated in dozens of countries and now accounting for the vast majority of new positive tests in the US according to the CDC. It has prompted governments, including the U.S., to stop some international travel. The impact of this variant still can’t be properly estimated though we are starting to have some reports from South Africa…
The COVID Advisory Group last met 12/6/21, and recommended that protocols for New Garden Friends Meeting continue mostly the same through the Holiday season. Therefore, semi-programmed Meeting for Worship (MFW) will be outdoors, including the Christmas Eve Service, but otherwise now by Zoom and Facebook Live at 11 am. Friends will be notified if weather does not permit in-person outdoor worship. Unprogrammed MFW may take place outdoors or indoors, in accordance with current masking and distancing protocols. Other small group meetings indoors at the Meeting…
Infectious disease experts are still reevaluating Holiday advice given the discovery of the highly contagious COVID Omicron variant. This variant has now been isolated in dozens of countries and now accounting for three quarters of new positive tests in the US according to the CDC. It has prompted governments, including the U.S., to stop some international travel. The impact of this variant still can’t be properly estimated though we are starting to have some reports from South Africa and…
The COVID Advisory Group last met December 6, and protocols for New Garden Friends Meeting will continue mostly the same through the Holiday season. Specifically, we will continue semi-programmed Meeting for Worship (MFW) outdoors for the Christmas Eve Service but otherwise now by Zoom and Facebook Live, now scheduled at 11 a.m. Friends will be notified if weather does not permit in-person outdoor worship. Un-programmed MFW may take place outdoors or indoors, in accordance with…
Infectious disease experts are now in the process of reevaluating Holiday advice given the discovery of a new, apparently highly contagious COVID variant , now being called Omicron. This variant has so far been isolated in Europe, Africa, and Japan and has prompted governments, including the U.S., to stop some international travel. The impact of this variant can’t be properly estimated for several weeks, and we won’t know the level of protection US vaccines provide from…