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Churches are among the high risk places to avoid at present, say public health professor Nick Wilson and epidemiologist Michael Baker (pictured).
As daily Omicron cases soar throughout the country, avoiding high risk places means steering clear of bars, restaurants, cafés, gyms, churches and protests.
Retail shops, offices, lifts, stairwells, malls, community pools, public transport and other commonly shared public spaces that offer slightly more space between people are at the next tier of risk.
Passing aerosols (breath) around the room in small, indoor areas is the perfect recipe for virus transmission. Singing, yelling, talking and laughing in enclosed spaces are particularly risky, Wilson explains.
He also says it’s important to note that having your vaccine pass checked at high risk places – like churches and bars – won’t stop you getting Covid.
In his view it’s “irresponsible” to claim people are safe just because their vaccine passes have been checked, Wilson says.
Nonetheless, it is possible to live a relatively normal life provided you take sensible precautions along the way.
Wilson and Baker recommend keeping the “3 Cs” rule in mind before going out – crowded, confined, close contact settings are the highest risk places.
Particularly high risk meeting places meet all three criteria. Churches fall into this category.
One way we can help ourselves when we’re out and about is to think how well a space is ventilated and how well people are spaced apart before entering, Baker suggests.
He and Wilson also suggest wearing a high quality N95 mask and ensuring you are vaccinated and boosted.
“Avoid unmasked situations with lots of people Baker said. “I would certainly prefer not to have it [Covid]”.
Sunday Mass needs to be safe
Cardinal John Dew says it’s important for people to feel safe coming to Mass by clearly having precautions in place for their safety.
He says this may involve going beyond the government’s guidelines in some areas, such as by not singing, and requiring the priest and other ministers to be masked.
Priests and lay pastoral leaders in the Archdiocese of Wellington have been advised they may have to cancel Mass if local Omicron numbers rise to a point they consider unsafe, or if they themselves have to self-isolate.
Keeping safe by not going to Mass at present is an option, as Dew says there is a dispensation from the Sunday obligation during the pandemic.
He also has a request: that while numbers in churches are limited to 100 people or fewer, people avoid trying to book in to attend Mass in other parishes. Those parishes will be trying to accommodate their parishioners within their 100-person limits too.
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News category: New Zealand, Palmerston, Top Story.
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