I just wanted to reach out to you regarding a recent report concerning a staff member that works at the REACH Academy who informed the school community on Wednesday evening of a positive test for COVID 19. The REACH Academy, as you know, rents our school building and runs a summer program as well. Even though this staff member never entered into our church building, to be thorough, I contacted the school and reached out to the Archdiocese of New York to see if there was anything we needed to be concerned about with regard to our parish and to be sure that we were following all of the CDC, NYS DOH, and Archdiocesan protocols. Thankfully, we have no cause for alarm and are well within all of the safety margins.
The focus of my initial concern was the potential exposure to our Religious Education staff working in the school building. Thankfully, they haven’t had contact with staff members given the remote location of their office on the lower floor of the building. They have assured me that they have been vigilant in following the protocols of the CDC in terms of masks, proper social distancing, and sanitizing. Please note, as I recently learned, that exposure to someone who tests positive for COVID 19 is not simply a matter of passing someone in the hallway. It becomes a concern when you are within six feet of that person for fifteen minutes or so (in other words, prolonged contact). Contact tracing has been taking place to determine who, if any, have been put at risk. Additionally, the REACH Academy disinfects the school building weekly and cleans daily. The REACH Academy was closed on Thursday and Friday of this past week during which time an additional deep cleaning was done in the school building. Even though it probably wasn’t necessary, to be thorough, at my request, they also did a professional disinfecting of our Lower Church and bathrooms this past Friday as an added measure since a few staff members (not the staff member who was infected) used the space for lunch on occasion in the weeks prior. They were instructed to sanitize the table and chairs after each use. If you weren’t already aware, please note as well that our church, including the lower church, is cleaned and sanitized every day anyway. This means that in the remote chance that the virus was on a surface it would have been removed.
I chose to share all of this not so much out of concern or alarm but out of a sense of responsibility to you with regard to keeping you informed. We are going to continue with all of our Masses and services as we have been doing since June 13, 2020 respecting the social distancing and sanitizing protocols. Feel free to call the parish office at (914) 948-1480 or to email me at admin@sapwh.org if you have any questions or concerns. Although I don’t anticipate any, if there are any substantial updates you can be sure that I will let you know as soon as possible.
I would ask that you pray in a special way for the REACH Academy staff member who tested positive. I am sure we can all imagine the difficulty this person is going through at this time. May God keep us safe and protect us from all harm.