Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Covid protocols

[Bonnie Fergusson (fergyb2]

At Swans Market we cancelled all Common meals last March when the first 
lockdown was instituted in our County and have not resumed them.  People 
occasionally eat outside on the walkway or in the garden.  We did have a 
Community Thanksgiving in an adjacent Courtyard (not ours) where there are 
tables and more social distancing is possible outside.  We have agreed to wear 
masks in all indoor and outdoor common spaces and have posted signs to remind 
people.  In the beginning we had a schedule for cleaning all commonly touched 
surfaces (door knobs, elevator buttons, light switches  handrails, etc.)three 
times a day
But asit became clear that fomite transmission was not a big driver of this 
pandemic we gradually went to twice a day and then stopped but left spray 
bottles of cleaning fluid and cloths around common areas so individuals who 
felt so moved could wipe things down.  We only allow one household at a ttime 
in the laundry room and exercise room.  People can exercise without masks in 
there if they want to.  We have a sign in/ sign out sheet on the door so it’s 
possible to tell if anyone is in there without opening the door and folks can 
decide not to enter until an hour or so after the previous person left so 
aerosols  have time to drift to the floor.  We stopped allowing none residents 
using our guest room and generally discouraged non reidents coming over at all, 
certainly not in the Common House.  After a few months we relented and have 
allowed professional cleaners and contractors in with masks and advanced notice 
to the community so people can chose to avoid the areas they are working in.  
We are updating our kitchen at this time so we do have periodic construction 
workers about.    Originally we had a system of younger residents shopping for 
older ones so they didn’t have to risk the grocery stores but as the pandemic 
dragged on the grocery store avoiders switched to instacart deliveries so as 
not to burden our neighbors.  We meet the delivery people at the garden gate so 
they don’t even have to come in.   Almost all meetings are on zoom ( 
occasionally a small Committee meeting will happen outdoors.)We miss the 
greater interaction and closeness that came with Common Meals but new 
traditions have evolved.  We had an Easter Parade down our walkway where folks 
dressed up and sashayed down the walkway while we all stood in our doorways and 
clapped.  We have a nightly tradition of clap and sing now which happens every 
night at 7pm (when we used to have Common Dinner).  The kids ring the dinner 
bell and we all come out and stand in our door ways and clap for medical people 
and first responders and then we sing a song together, different one every 
night, and sometimes dancing in the walkway occurs if it’s a lively tune.     I 
hope we will have enough of us vaccinated by fall to resume Common Dinners but 
we shall have to wait and see.  For now, our stringent rules have kept us safe. 
 Only one resident had a confirmed case early in March after flying to the East 
Coast.  He ended up being treated and hospitalized there so no one here was 
exposed to him.  We had another suspected mild case in March which also 
occurred after flying but this case was not confirmed because at the time you 
couldn’t get tested unless you needed hospitalization.  He quarantined in his 
unit and there was no spread even within his household.  It’s been hard to keep 
up our vigilance for this long but now that we are starting to get vaccinated 
it looks like there is light at the end of the tunnel, just a few more months 
.....Bonnie FergussonSecurity Committee Chair and chief mask nagSwans Market 
Cohousing
Oakland, CA
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad


On Friday, February 26, 2021, 6:45 AM, Martie Weatherly <mhweatherly [at] 
earthlink.net> wrote:

We at Liberty Village in Maryland are hardly using our common house at all. We 
have one renter and have rented 2 other rooms out to have the space useful. We 
do have outside events at times. Our meetings are all by zoom.  I am sorry not 
to have the connection that in-person meals and meetings bring but we feel we 
have to be careful at this time.

Martie Weatherly  


Health and Wellness Coach
Consensus Coach
coachmartie.com


-----Original Message-----
>From: Julia Dodge <dodgej [at] telus.net>
>Sent: Feb 25, 2021 12:16 PM
>To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
>Subject: [C-L]_ Covid protocols
>
>Our village , pre-pandemic, enjoyed community meals, social gatherings, and 
>meeting spaces in our Common House. Now it is used only for accessing 
>mailboxes and laundry facilities. Masks and enhanced cleaning is mandatory 
>while in the building. 
>I realize we must all adhere closely to our respective government 
>restrictions, but I’m tasked with drafting policy and am curious as to what 
>others are doing to keep your common- use areas clean and people safe. 
>We are a self-managed community.  
>_________________________________________________________________
>Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
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