Covid update

BFM COVID-19 INFORMATION

Bethesda Friends Meeting cares deeply about the safety of our members and attenders. 

• COVID-related decisions about our in-person activities are considered by the Ad Hoc COVID Advisory Committee, based on a set of Covid Safety Guidelines approved at Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business on May 1, 2022. 
• These safety guidelines lay out a hierarchy of risk levels, based on indicators provided by the CDC and Montgomery County.
• Each week, a member of the COVID Advisory Committee will check the indicators and report the risk level to committee clerks. 
• The BFM community will be advised via the weekly bulletin of any change in mandatory requirements for in-person meetings. 
• The most recent Risk Level and in-person meeting requirements will also be listed on this web page. 

As of July 29, 2022, we are at BFM risk level 4, which means that Meeting for Worship is held outside only. Please read other requirements and restrictions below. 

• This change is based on the criteria & risk level in the BFM Covid Safety Guidelines (pdf). 

For in-person meetings at BFM (including First Day School and Child Care), please observe the following 

• Outdoor worship. Friends are invited to gather in person for Meeting for Worship outside in the Breezeway near the Meeting House on the Sidwell Friends School Lower School campus. Anyone attending should carefully consider the additional risks of gathering in-person. The following COVID rules apply to all of those attending in person:

• There will be no in-person meetings. 
• Older children can meet outdoors only.
• There will be no child care for young children age 6 months through pre-Kindergarten.
• Attendees must be vaccinated against COVID-19 (as available by age).  
• You must wear a mask. Tight fitting masks such as N95 or KN95 are recommended.
• You must maintain social distancing.
• You must self-screen based on COVID symptoms or exposure.  You may not attend in-person if you have a fever, have COVID symptoms, have tested positive for COVID, or have been exposed in the past 10 days to an individual testing positive for, or displaying symptoms of, COVID.
• You must sign in on a simple sign-in sheet.
• You must notify BFM promptly via an email to covid.committee@bethesdafriends.org if you have a positive test after attending in person.  
• • BFM will provide notice to others who attended the same meeting of the COVID case (but will not identify the person testing positive).