CDC Lists Hancock Co. as Having High Community Level of Covid-19

UPDATE March 16: The CDC now lists Hancock County as having a “medium” community level of Covid. Indoor masking IS NOT required.

Last night (March 9) the Federal CDC classified Hancock County as having a “High Community Level” of Covid-19. We will continue to follow our indoor masking policy which requires masks indoors when we have “high” community levels. The CDC will not update their data until next Thursday night (March 16), so this means for the next week we’re asking everyone to wear a mask while inside The Neighborhood House, including while working out in the gym.

For lack of a better phrase, let’s just say this situation is a total bummer. We know everyone is just “over it” (we are too), but we also feel that since we have a policy, it’s important to stick to it even when it’s not convenient. Our hope is that just like the last time Hancock County was listed as having a high-level in Oct., this only lasts one week and is more of a metric anomaly than anything else. Until then, thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Here are a couple of measures we’re taking due to the High Community Level of Covid-19:

1.   For gym members, we will be adding one week to everyone’s current membership. We get that not everyone wants to have to wear a mask while working out, so if you want to take the next week off from the gym, you won’t lose out on any of your membership (and if you are okay working out in a mask, you end up with a bonus week—hurrah!).

2.   Our Community Café scheduled for next Thursday, March 16, is going to be pushed back to Thursday, April 6. In turn, our remaining two Café luncheons after that will be April 20 and May 4. We hope after this week the Covid situation subsides from “high,” and we can gather indoors for these lunches without any hesitation.

We’ll update the situation next Thursday evening as soon as the Federal CDC posts their new data. Again, thanks for your cooperation!