Southminster Boise Health Plan March 12, 2020
As the news and concern over the COVID-19 situation continues, we at SPC are taking prudent steps in order to keep our community healthy. We are monitoring the Boise School district as well as other alerts for our area.
Personal Preparedness
For 80% of cases, COVID-19 is a mild illness that does not require hospitalization. We cannot eliminate COVID-19 but we can limit its spread by:
- Washing hands with soap and water, frequently
- Don’t touch your face (mouth, nose, eyes)
- Staying home when sick, until the illness is resolved
- Covering coughs and sneezes with tissue and elbows, and washing hands afterwards
- Staying away from others who are ill
- Ordering a month’s supply of medications
- Avoiding spaces where crowds gather, when possible
- Talk to your doctor about possibly postponing non-urgent trips to the doctor if you’re in a high risk health group
Our Plan as a community of faith:
We are already taking extra steps to keep the building as clean as possible. One of the things that slows the spread of this disease is “social distancing”. While there haven’t been any identified cases in Idaho yet, we haven’t been testing people for the virus in any great measure. People can spread the disease for more than a week without having any symptoms of it. It seems likely there are cases of it in Boise already, and the best way to slow any spread of the disease is to not gather in large groups.
Here’s an article from the New York Times about the importance of slowing the spread. Lots of people will still get the disease, but if we can keep our healthcare system from being overwhelmed, we will all fare better. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/science/coronavirus-curve-mitigation-infection.html
Out of an abundance of caution, and to protect the vulnerable people in our community, the session has decided to suspend in person gatherings at church for the next three weeks. We will re-assess the situation at that time.
We will NOT gather in person to worship March 14, March 22, or March 29. (We will gather online using Facebook Live).
Bible Studies, SAGES, circle meetings, choir rehearsals, etc will also take a break through March.
We will contact the groups that use the building and recommend they consider ways to meet virtually.
The office will remain open. We will continue to keep the building clean and disinfected, as best we can.
We are staying in touch with the school district too, and if they close, we may need to mobilize some healthy people who can help deliver food to food pantries. There are some children in our community who rely on free lunches at school and we want to make sure they still have access to food in the midst of this situation.
Our Lenten journey this year seems like it will be rockier and more complicated than in some previous years, but we are still on this journey together. We pray that during this time of worshiping apart, we will appreciate the gifts of worshiping together even more.
* We will keep you updated through Facebook, church website (www.spcboise.org), and email *
Idaho’s Coronavirus Website: https://coronavirus.idaho.gov/
Central District Health’s Website: https://www.cdhd.idaho.gov/dac-coronavirus.php
