COVID-19 and the Church: A Church Answers Podcast Question

I have submitted the following pod question to Church Answers which I am hoping that they will address in a future podcast. I also wanted to draw to Church Answers' attention the findings of the studies to which I refer in my podcast question. The podcast question was prompted in part by comments in response to an article on the Church Answers website. From my perspective some churches are not creating adequate layers of protection against the COVID-19 infection for returning attendees.

What are churches which have returned to their buildings doing to adequately ventilate the spaces where they are now seating the attendees of their in-person services and gatherings? A study of the high transmission rate of the COVID-19 virus in hospitals traced it to poor ventilation. Rooms and other spaces that were mechanically ventilated by air-conditioning had higher concentrations of COVID-19 virus particles than those which were naturally ventilated by doors and windows open to the outside and in which the air circulated. 

Among the CDC recommendations that got lost in the shuffle was that churches, when they began to hold in-person services or gatherings. should meet outdoors or in a large, open room with its doors and windows open to the outside and ventilated by electric fans. 

A second study found only one cluster of COVID-19 cases could be traced to a small gathering in which those participating in the gathering were outside, maintaining the recommended distance between each other, and wearing face masks. However, a number of clusters could be traced to large gatherings in which those participating in the gathering were outside, were in close proximity to each other, and were not wearing face masks. It was concluded from that study that small outdoor gatherings in which the participants took the necessary precautionary measures (i.e., social distancing, face masks) were the least likely to transmit the virus. 

One the other hand, gatherings which were held in mechanically-ventilated rooms or spaces indoors, in which the participants did not observe social distancing and did not wear face masks greatly increased the likelihood of COVID-19 transmission. Because bathrooms and restrooms are enclosed and poorly ventilated and a body of evidence that points to humans shedding virus particles in their urine and feces as well as emitting them from their mouths and noses, they are particularly high risk spaces for COVID-19 transmission. 

How are churches making use of these findings to create layers of protection against virus infection for the attendees of their in-person services and gatherings? Are they aware of these findings? Are they ignoring them?

The comments in the comment section to the same article also raised other concerns. Some churches, when they return to the building are discontinuing their online services. This puts those who have attended these churches before the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a lock down in their state and community in a precarious position, particularly those who are elderly, have a  pre-existing condition, or have a household member who is elderly or has such a condition. They are being forced to choose between the church and their own safety and the safety of their household members.

Another cause for concern is returning attendees who are not complying with  the precautionary measures that the church has put in place to prevent its in-person services and gatherings from becoming the nexus of a new cluster of COVID-19 cases and deaths. They are not wearing face masks. They are not social distancing. They are doing what they did before the COVID-19 pandemic, gathering in groups of two or three or more people in close proximity with each other and chatting together, one of the most common ways that the COVID-19 virus is spread.