Two Overlooked Considerations in Church Reopening Plans

By Robin G. Jordan

On Saturday I posted a link to a Church Leaders article, “Is Congregational Singing Dangerous?” in which a reference is made to what happened to a choir in Skagit County, Washington. You can read about how a cluster of COVID-19 cases, including two deaths, was traced to a choir rehearsal in these two articles, “One Ill Choir Singer Infected 52 Others With Coronavirus: Study” and “Coronavirus Ravaged a Choir. But Isolation Helped Contain It.” This morning I was reading an article on the Church Leader article about the steps that a Texas church had taken when it reopened. I noticed a couple of things missing from the list of precautions that the church took. I believe that based upon the research I have seen so far these two things are critical in preventing a church’s in-person gatherings from becoming a nexus of a cluster of COVID-19 cases as Skagit County Chorale’s rehearsal became.

Ventilation. A number of studies indicate that poor ventilation increases the transmission of infectious diseases like tuberculosis. At least one study suggests that natural ventilation reduces the high risk of TB transmission in traditional homes in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. These findings are consistent with early research that poor ventilation as well as overcrowding and inadequate nutrition accounted for the high number of TB cases among the urban poor in the United Kingdom and the United States in nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

To investigate why health care workers were becoming infected with COVID-19 despite the precautions they were taking with COVID-19 patients, the Chinese health authorities conducted a study of the density of COVID-19 particles in the spaces that were occupied or used by the COVID-19 patents. They found that the number of COVID-19 particles was higher in poorly ventilated, enclosed spaces like bathrooms than it was in well-ventilated, open spaces. They also found that the density levels of COVID-19 particles were higher in spaces that were mechanically ventilated than in spaces that were naturally ventilated. In naturally ventilated spaces the particles appeared to disperse more quickly. In mechanically ventilated spaces they simply circulated around the room.

When I attended elementary school, middle school, and high school, school buildings were constructed with plenty of windows not only to permit sunlight into classrooms but also to provide natural ventilation. This was done to reduce the spread of tuberculosis. But since the development of drugs to treat tuberculosis, the newer schools are no longer built that way. Artificial light has replaced sunlight. Mechanical ventilation has replaced natural ventilation. From this standpoint the newer schools may not be as healthy as the older ones. I draw attention to this fact because many church sanctuaries and worship centers built in recent years suffer from the same drawbacks as the newer school buildings. They are artificially lit and mechanically ventilated. I am not suggesting that the older church buildings were any better. The church of my youth may be one of the few exceptions. It had large clear glass windows that admitted sunlight. These windows could also be tilted to provide natural cross ventilation.

Even if a church seats the congregation in family groups six feet (or two meters) apart from each other, requires attendees to wear face masks, holds several worship gatherings rather than a single gathering, and sanitizes surfaces before and between these gatherings, these precautions will not entirely reduce the density levels of COVID-1 circulating in a mechanically ventilated room. More frequently the room is used, the denser these levels are likely to be should one or more attendees who has the virus but is asymptomatic or has not yet developed symptoms releases virus particles into the air.

As I noted earlier in this article, the highest density levels of COVID-19 particles were found in poorly ventilated, enclosed spaces like restrooms. Even if a church restricts the number of people in a restroom at one time, it will only slow the build up of COVID-19 particles in the restroom if one or more persons using the restroom has the virus but is not exhibiting symptoms or has not yet developed symptoms. I have observed that some people will go to the restroom to sneeze, cough, or blow their nose. The number of people who wash their hands after using the restroom are far less than is desirable. Few restrooms are equipped with automatic door openers.

Protective Screens. Increasingly stores are erecting plastic screens at their checkout counters. While some customers stay home when they are sick, observe social distancing guidelines, and wear face masks, others show little or no respect for the health, safety and well-being of their fellow customers or store employees. These screens provide a barrier between store employees and these customers. They also provide a barrier between customers and store employees who may have the virus but are asymptomatic or has not yet developed symptoms. While shopping at one store, I encountered one store employee who kept pushing up her face mask in order to talk. A number of companies are erecting similar screens in company cafeterias to separate diners from each other.

Churches need to be using protective screens to safeguard the congregation from the members of the worship team on the platform. Many churches place a sound-dampening screen around the drummer. The other musicians and vocalists also need screens. This includes volunteer emcees like the ones to which the article refers. The purpose of these screens is to prevent them from spraying the congregation with COVID-19 droplets while they are singing or speaking if one or more of them has the virus but is asymptomatic or has not yet developed symptoms. When a member of the worship team leaves his screened space, he should don a face mask. The use of screened spaces will, however, require the use of the same worship team at all gatherings on a particular day. I do not see how these spaces could be decontaminated between gatherings.

I am drawing attention to these two areas because they show how complicated reopening churches is at this particular stage in the COVID-19 pandemic. Until we have wider testing, we have only an incomplete picture of how widespread the virus is. As health experts point out, it is much wider than the number of confirmed cases. A test that produces quick results and has a high degree of reliability would make church reopenings simpler. Churches would be able to screen people before admitting them to a gathering. But until such a test is developed, churches will need to do more than require social distancing and face masks and sanitize surfaces. They will need to consider whether the building they are using is safe for in-person gatherings in terms of ventilation and to erect screens between the worship team and the congregation and to adopt other safety measures.