COVID Policies

Page last updated: 4/4/2023

COVID protocols are established by Beth Shalom's COVID Committee and are subject to change. 

If you have any possible symptoms of COVID-19, we encourage you to stay home. If you would still like to join us, you must test using a rapid test (and get a negative result), and must wear a mask to enter the building and attend indoor or outdoor services.

Symptoms include: cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fever, chills, muscle pain, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell.

What is the current policy on masks?

• Starting November 5, 2022, masks will be optional at all CBS Activities and Services, as long as King County remains at LOW levels of COVID-19 as defined by the CDC. If the County goes back to medium or high levels of COVID-19, we will reimplement required masking. 
  • You can find the latest data on community levels at the King County Website https://kingcounty.gov/depts/health/covid-19/data/current-metrics.aspx
  • Currently (As of 12/9/2022) local health officials are recommending the use of masks indoors due to a high uptick in respiratory illnesses. While our policy is that masks are still optional, we recommend wearing them inside the building to reduce the spread of viruses like flu and RSV, in addition to Covid.
• Religious School, youth programming, Prozdor and teen learning are all mask optional.
• We will continue to provide masks at the front entrance for those who do not have masks with them but would like to wear one.
• We ask that you kindly respect other people’s choices regarding masking.  

Please note, there will be a handful of exceptions to our Masking Policy made for CBS small group activities, at request of the groups' leaders. Participants will be notified in advance if masks will be required. 

What kind of mask is recommended?

Inside the building, CBS recommends wearing either a standard 3-layer paper mask, KF94, KN95, or N95 mask if you are comfortable doing so. We will continue to have a supply of 3-layer paper and KN95 masks in the lobby. 

What is the approach to vaccination?

We strongly encourage all of our members and guests to be up-to-date on their vaccinations, in line with our deeply held Jewish value to protect human life.
 

Will we still be able to eat outside?

Starting with Shabbat, March 26, 2022 people have the option of eating Kiddush lunch indoors or outdoors. All events with indoor eating will also have an outdoor eating option.

Will there still be online events? What about streaming?

We will continue to offer outdoor and hybrid events as long as there is demand for them. Streaming for shabbat services will continue to be available for the foreseeable future, as will virtual morning minyan.

What else are you doing to prevent the spread of COVID?

We have increased the airflow in all of our spaces, including keeping windows open, and have set our HVAC system for maximum air exchange. (Dependant on extreme weather or smoke, we may need to close doors and windows or make adjustments to airflow.)

How do we make our COVID policies?

Our COVID Committee, made up of medical experts from the Beth Shalom community, meet regularly with community leaders to set and update policies based on the latest medical research and the conditions in the Seattle-area. COVID policies and procedures are regularly updated and subject to change.