COVID-19 Update – Formal Sittings Will Continue
The Center’s COVID Taskforce (Jonathan Hager, M.D., Eryl Kubicka, Sensei John Pulleyn, Dené Redding, and Ven. Trueman Taylor) met yesterday afternoon and concluded that it’s safe for our normal schedule of morning and evening formal sittings to continue, so long as everyone is fully vaccinated and masks are worn in the buildings at all times – including on and off the mat in the zendo, in the dokusan line, and in the dokusan room. Staff who were exposed to the resident who tested positive on Saturday afternoon are currently under quarantine until they have a negative PCR test (the most accurate and reliable COVID test). In other words, they will not be in the zendo for sittings until after their tests come back COVID-negative.
To reiterate the change in the Center’s protocols: masks are to be worn at all times in the buildings, including in the zendo (on and off the mat), in the dokusan line, and in the dokusan room. In the zendo the air filtration system and fans will be used, and in the dokusan room we’ll be using a new air purifier.