Dear Member,
If you have been watching or reading the local, national and international news, you will know that cases of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths are once again on the dramatic rise. This is being ascribed to the multiple, new and more contagious variations of the now dominant Omicron variant. As explained, these are currently the most virulent variations to date.
Club Recommendation
The Commonwealth is not imposing any new requirements for wearing masks or otherwise restricting public behavior to meet the new threat. As such, neither will the Club. BUT! We strongly recommend that every member wear a mask indoors everywhere they go, including here at The Skating Club of Boston. There is nothing better you can do to protect yourself and those around you from becoming infected. And while you may be vibrant and healthy yourself, there is no predicting how each individual will respond once infected, either immediately or if later you were to develop any long-COVID symptoms. And certainly, there is no way of knowing if the people around you are immune-compromised or otherwise more susceptible to becoming seriously ill. Or even dying. Wearing a mask protects yourself and protects others in our community.
I don’t write this to be dramatic. But to remind everyone that we can’t just wish the virus away or accept that vaccinations alone will fully protect us. Nor can we be misled that the lack of government restrictions means that we are safe. The numbers clearly indicate otherwise. I believe the lack of restrictions only means that everyone, including government officials and those of us here at the Club, are exhausted from the past two years. That, and there is currently room in the hospitals for those who become seriously ill.
Protocol if Testing Positive
If you do become infected, please immediately notify the Club’s COVID-19 Safety Officer, Cheri Rigby, at cheri.rigby@scboston.org. The Club still makes every effort to track cases of COVID-19 at the Club. As a reminder, the Club also still follows CDC guidelines regarding the return to normal activities. If you test positive for COVID-19, you must isolate for 5 full days (counting the date of symptom onset as day “0”. If not experiencing any symptoms, then the date of the test is Day “0”.) On day 6, if the symptoms are clearly resolving or if you are still asymptomatic, you may return to the Club, but you must be masked for an additional 5 days. All close contacts who are up-to-date (meaning both vaccinated and boosted) do NOT need to quarantine. As always, please contact Cheri if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Doug Zeghibe
Executive Director
