Well, it’s not a shock that cases have been rampant due to many factors including schools starting, a flood of large gatherings, COVID exhaustion and reduced protective standards, change of seasons, and how much all of us want to get back to normal. 

The curve was turning upward a week ago and is now a spike. There have been multiple local deaths in the last week. There are 11 active institutional outbreaks mostly in long-term care and retirement homes. 

Our Board policy, including recent adjustments and informed in depth by the Safe Gathering advisory team, is the service-leading and tech teams can be in the sanctuary but the service needs to be online-only this week for the congregation. This is true in any week that the Peterborough Public Health Local COVID-19 Risk Index is High or Very High (Extreme).

— Your UFP Board President, Ben Wolfe

More details about the PPH Index and much more data can be found here or by clicking the image below: https://www.peterboroughpublichealth.ca/covid-19-risk-index/

The Index is updated every Wednesday by 4pm.