Kadima COVID Guidelines
Updated August, 2022; still current as of September 2024
Values:
Scope & Commitments:
Official Kadima Gatherings
The following guidelines will be used based on the COVID community level as determined by King County Public Health, which is calculated based on three criteria:
1. The number of hospital admissions per 100,000 people;
2. The percentage of hospital beds occupied by COVID-19 patients;
3. And the number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people.
For all in person events, pre-registration and/or sign in is required for notification of risk/exposure; we will also require a waiver or that people show vaccination cards and sign an in-person waiver for official Kadima events. [non-Kadima example]
Masking at Kadima events means wearing a mask with a quality fit that is any one of the following: 3-layer procedure masks, Fitted Filter Mask (FF) masks, KF94/KN95/N95, or N95. Bandanas, cloth masks, and skiing gaiters will not count as masks, and we will be happy to provide you with a mask within Kadima’s guidelines.
When community level is low (as determined by King County at this website), the following guidelines will be used:
Physical Distancing Norms
As able and if the guidelines direct, please ensure that you keep distance between pods, and wear masks over the mouth and nose. If you are feeling sick (sick being defined here as any symptoms that you do not usually experience as part of your life), however mild, stay home and tune in online.
Sharing Food & Meals
Per the CDC’s classification of potluck or “family style” meals as a highest risk activity, people at elevated risk of severe COVID infection might want to take special care. If you have concerns about participating in a potluck or other gathering involving food, you are encouraged to check in with your primary care provider. For those planning events that may involve food, please notify all potential participants in advance so they can make informed choices about if and how to participate.
Lifecycle Events & Chesed
Lifecycle events for members may happen in person as well with decisions made on a case by case basis provided distancing and mask protocols are observed when called for.
When providing Chesed (providing support for one another), all typical precautions should be in place, and where feasible, delivery of food or other interactions should be done by a vaccinated household member.
Guidance for Indoor Gatherings
Vaccination
All attendees who are eligible for vaccination are required to be up to date on vaccination (full initial dose(s) + booster(s)). Attendees are asked to provide proof of vaccine by either having signed the Kadima waiver or showing their vaccine card to a COVID care volunteer at the event. Please expect to have your hand stamped or receive a sticker to wear to signify that your vaccine card or waiver have been checked.
Reasonable exemptions based on specific medical conditions will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Please indicate your need for exemption on the waiver and it will be reviewed by our office. Once that documentation is on file, unvaccinated individuals will be asked to please take a rapid test as close to the start of any in-person event as possible. If needed or desired, Kadima will happily provide a COVID test at the door of every event, which can be self-administered in a private location.
Masking
Indoors, all attendees must wear a 3-ply medical mask, KN94, KN95, or N95 mask if in any community COVID level other than low (as outlined above). Masks will be provided at the door for those who need them. Service leaders will be distanced 6’ or more from any other person and will remove their masks while leading for online accessibility and to support lip reading. Service leaders will test prior to attending services.
Children under 5
Masking is required for children 2 and up, with a 3-ply medical grade mask, KN94, KN95, or N95 grade mask. All services and indoor programs are open to children, who must adhere to the vaccination and masking policy as able.
If you have questions about these policies or procedures or if they are prohibitive to your participation, please reach out to [email protected].
Health and Safety Guidance FAQs
Is there a vaccination policy for Kadima staff, teachers, students, and congregants?
All Kadima staff and teachers are required to be vaccinated and boosted, with medical exemptions made on a case by case basis.
When should I stay home from a Kadima event?
Please do not come to an event in person if you:
[insert chart]
Can people eat and drink at Kadima events?
Yes, but the protocols for eating and drinking depend on the community COVID level. Please see the above section entitled “Official Kadima Gatherings” for guidance.
Someone in my immediate family/pod is immunosuppressed. Can we still come to Kadima events?
We leave that choice to you. Individuals who are immunosuppressed or live in a home or pod with an immunosuppressed person should consult with their doctor(s) before deciding whether or not to participate. Though we are taking extensive actions to keep our community safe, Kadima is not able to guarantee that a person in our programs will not be exposed to COVID-19.
What should I do if I or someone in my family tests positive for COVID-19 and I attended a Kadima event recently?
Please alert us by emailing lifecycle@kadima.org and office@kadima.org with as many details as you have as soon as you are able, including date of symptom onset, date of exposure, date of tests, and anything else you would like to share.
How will Kadima respond and communicate if someone at a Kadima event tests positive for COVID-19? Do you have contact tracing protocols?
If anyone at a Kadima event tests positive for COVID-19 and has been present when they may have been infectious, we will notify everyone who was present on that day as soon as we possibly can. We will be clear about the level of contact we understand each person may have had in a way that keeps individuals as anonymous as possible.
- Reliable Communication & Honesty: We communicate regularly with our membership as the situation changes about what we can and are doing, and what we can’t.
- Staying Informed: We make our evaluation and decisions following the lead of those with the most scientific information and informed by Public Health - Seattle & King County guidance.
- Access & Equity: We make decisions and send communications with our most vulnerable community members in mind.
- Expressing Care for Ourselves & Each Other: We express and perform physical, emotional, and spiritual acts of care such as listening; creating space for emotion (fear, sadness, surprise, happiness, anger, and beyond); providing the opportunity for community members to show up with physical support for one another; making spiritual counseling accessible to one another; opening ourselves up for receiving requests for care.
Scope & Commitments:
- Kadima is committed to being a multi-access community that centers Disability Justice, understanding that for some, online events have not and will not work for them, and for others, onsite events will continue to not work for them -- all for a wide range of reasons and needs. As they are deemed safe by public health professionals, we will have a mix of outdoor onsite events, indoor events, online events, and hybrid events with an aim to serve all of our members.
- We have created conservative COVID guidelines to protect our community and to prevent community spread from the effects of COVID and long COVID, which impacts approximately 30% of people who contract the virus.
Official Kadima Gatherings
The following guidelines will be used based on the COVID community level as determined by King County Public Health, which is calculated based on three criteria:
1. The number of hospital admissions per 100,000 people;
2. The percentage of hospital beds occupied by COVID-19 patients;
3. And the number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people.
For all in person events, pre-registration and/or sign in is required for notification of risk/exposure; we will also require a waiver or that people show vaccination cards and sign an in-person waiver for official Kadima events. [non-Kadima example]
Masking at Kadima events means wearing a mask with a quality fit that is any one of the following: 3-layer procedure masks, Fitted Filter Mask (FF) masks, KF94/KN95/N95, or N95. Bandanas, cloth masks, and skiing gaiters will not count as masks, and we will be happy to provide you with a mask within Kadima’s guidelines.
When community level is low (as determined by King County at this website), the following guidelines will be used:
- Masking is optional at outdoor gatherings
- Being unmasked is okay indoors as long as ventilation is improved and everyone is up to date on vaccination as vaccinated as possible (for eligible folks, this means first dose(s) + as many booster(s) as currently recommended) however: communal masking may be an access need for someone in attendance. If this is the case, all attendees will be asked to mask.
- Improved ventilation includes: open windows and doors, use of fans to increase introduction of outdoor air, use of portable HEPA filters, and more when possible/able.
- Outdoor gatherings of any group size, including services in which singing takes place, can be held with either masking or minimum 6 feet distance between pods. When distancing is in place, masking is still welcome but is the choice of the individual attendee.
- No meals will be held indoors. During indoor events, those who do need to eat should eat/drink outside if able, use a private space (if available), or move away from the group; please mask up between bites and sips if you remain indoors.
- If there are fewer than 200 cases per 100,000 people, indoor gatherings, including services in which singing takes place, can be held with both masking and keeping distance when able. Number of attendees will be determined by a venue’s capacity to accommodate physical distancing. Venues must be able to accommodate distancing requirements and adhere to CDC ventilation guidelines.
- If there are greater than 200 cases per 100,000 people, and we are still in community level ‘medium’, gatherings can either be held indoors if there is a concurrent high quality online attendance option. If there is no concurrent high quality online attendance option, then the gathering must be held outdoors or all online. If indoors, gatherings must include the above vaccination, masking, physical distancing, ventilation, and reduced capacity requirements, and/or organizers’ reserve the right to move gatherings entirely outdoors at their own discretion.
- All gatherings will be held outdoors with masking and physical distance between pods or gatherings will be moved online at the discretion of the organizers
- No meals will be held
- No gatherings will be held indoors
- When the number of cases is greater than 1,000 per 100,000 people all Kadima programming, including school, will be online.
Physical Distancing Norms
As able and if the guidelines direct, please ensure that you keep distance between pods, and wear masks over the mouth and nose. If you are feeling sick (sick being defined here as any symptoms that you do not usually experience as part of your life), however mild, stay home and tune in online.
Sharing Food & Meals
Per the CDC’s classification of potluck or “family style” meals as a highest risk activity, people at elevated risk of severe COVID infection might want to take special care. If you have concerns about participating in a potluck or other gathering involving food, you are encouraged to check in with your primary care provider. For those planning events that may involve food, please notify all potential participants in advance so they can make informed choices about if and how to participate.
Lifecycle Events & Chesed
Lifecycle events for members may happen in person as well with decisions made on a case by case basis provided distancing and mask protocols are observed when called for.
When providing Chesed (providing support for one another), all typical precautions should be in place, and where feasible, delivery of food or other interactions should be done by a vaccinated household member.
Guidance for Indoor Gatherings
Vaccination
All attendees who are eligible for vaccination are required to be up to date on vaccination (full initial dose(s) + booster(s)). Attendees are asked to provide proof of vaccine by either having signed the Kadima waiver or showing their vaccine card to a COVID care volunteer at the event. Please expect to have your hand stamped or receive a sticker to wear to signify that your vaccine card or waiver have been checked.
Reasonable exemptions based on specific medical conditions will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Please indicate your need for exemption on the waiver and it will be reviewed by our office. Once that documentation is on file, unvaccinated individuals will be asked to please take a rapid test as close to the start of any in-person event as possible. If needed or desired, Kadima will happily provide a COVID test at the door of every event, which can be self-administered in a private location.
Masking
Indoors, all attendees must wear a 3-ply medical mask, KN94, KN95, or N95 mask if in any community COVID level other than low (as outlined above). Masks will be provided at the door for those who need them. Service leaders will be distanced 6’ or more from any other person and will remove their masks while leading for online accessibility and to support lip reading. Service leaders will test prior to attending services.
Children under 5
Masking is required for children 2 and up, with a 3-ply medical grade mask, KN94, KN95, or N95 grade mask. All services and indoor programs are open to children, who must adhere to the vaccination and masking policy as able.
If you have questions about these policies or procedures or if they are prohibitive to your participation, please reach out to [email protected].
Health and Safety Guidance FAQs
Is there a vaccination policy for Kadima staff, teachers, students, and congregants?
All Kadima staff and teachers are required to be vaccinated and boosted, with medical exemptions made on a case by case basis.
When should I stay home from a Kadima event?
Please do not come to an event in person if you:
- had a positive COVID test sample taken in the previous 7 days and have not since received a negative PCR test;
- have had confirmed or suspected new and unexplained COVID-like symptoms within the last 7 days;
- have had suspected COVID-like symptoms within the last 5 days and have not yet received 1 negative PCR test;
- have been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19 within the last 7 days;
- currently have any new and unexplained COVID-like symptoms; or
- have any potentially contagious symptoms, including what seems like just a runny nose without alternative explanation (allergies, migraine headache, body aches due to chronic condition)
[insert chart]
Can people eat and drink at Kadima events?
Yes, but the protocols for eating and drinking depend on the community COVID level. Please see the above section entitled “Official Kadima Gatherings” for guidance.
Someone in my immediate family/pod is immunosuppressed. Can we still come to Kadima events?
We leave that choice to you. Individuals who are immunosuppressed or live in a home or pod with an immunosuppressed person should consult with their doctor(s) before deciding whether or not to participate. Though we are taking extensive actions to keep our community safe, Kadima is not able to guarantee that a person in our programs will not be exposed to COVID-19.
What should I do if I or someone in my family tests positive for COVID-19 and I attended a Kadima event recently?
Please alert us by emailing lifecycle@kadima.org and office@kadima.org with as many details as you have as soon as you are able, including date of symptom onset, date of exposure, date of tests, and anything else you would like to share.
How will Kadima respond and communicate if someone at a Kadima event tests positive for COVID-19? Do you have contact tracing protocols?
If anyone at a Kadima event tests positive for COVID-19 and has been present when they may have been infectious, we will notify everyone who was present on that day as soon as we possibly can. We will be clear about the level of contact we understand each person may have had in a way that keeps individuals as anonymous as possible.