Guidance for COVID-19 and Other Respiratory Viruses

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is currently giving the same guidance for COVID-19 as for other respiratory viruses, including flu and RSV. 

Recommendations, as of March 1, 2024, from cdc.gov:

When you may have a respiratory virus…‎

Stay home and away from others (including people you live with who are not sick) if you have respiratory virus symptoms that aren’t better explained by another cause. These symptoms can include fever, chills, fatigue, cough, runny nose, and headache, among others.

  • You can go back to your normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, both are true:
    • Your symptoms are getting better overall, and
    • You have not had a fever (and are not using fever-reducing medication).
  • When you go back to your normal activities, take added precaution over the next 5 days, such as taking additional steps for cleaner air, hygiene, masks, physical distancing, and/or testing when you will be around other people indoors. This is especially important to protect people with factors that increase their risk of severe illness from respiratory viruses.
    • Keep in mind that you may still be able to spread the virus that made you sick, even if you are feeling better. You are likely to be less contagious at this time, depending on factors like how long you were sick or how sick you were.
    • If you develop a fever or you start to feel worse after you have gone back to normal activities, stay home and away from others again until, for at least 24 hours, both are true: your symptoms are improving overall, and you have not had a fever (and are not using fever-reducing medication). Then take added precaution for the next 5 days.

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Wearing a mask can help lower the risk of respiratory virus transmission. When worn by a person with an infection, masks reduce the spread of the virus to others. Masks can also protect wearers from breathing in infectious particles from people around them. Different masks offer different levels of protection. Wearing the most protective one you can comfortably wear for extended periods of time that fits well (completely covering the nose and mouth) is the most effective option.

At First Unitarian, people are always welcome to wear masks.

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Remember that many people who go to church have a higher risk for respiratory illness, including:

Older adults whose immune systems tend to not work as well and are more likely to have underlying health conditions.

Young children have immune systems that are still developing and small airways. 

People with weakened immune systems can have lower defenses against infections and their bodies may have a harder time building lasting protection from immunization or prior infection. 

People with disabilities are more likely to have underlying medical conditions, live in congregate settings, or experience factors and conditions stemming from social determinants of health that increase their risk for poor outcomes from respiratory infections.

Pregnant and recently pregnant people because pregnancy can cause changes in the immune system, heart, and lungs that make people more likely to get very sick from respiratory viruses.

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Please be considerate of and compassionate to others. Remember that most 11am Sunday services at First Unitarian Church of Toledo are livestreamed and available on demand at YouTube.com/@ToledoUnitarians, so people can still have a Sunday service if they need to isolate because of respiratory viruses.