After weeks of sheltering in place, I am glad to share with you what the WBT Board has been working on to be ready to return to “normal” when the time is right. In early May when the number of COVID-19 cases were decreasing we started to be optimistic about reopening the temple for service within a few months. However, after the Memorial Day holiday the cases have been increasing, not only in Hawaii, but across the nation. Therefore, the Board has decided to be more cautious about reopening the temple and wait until the pandemic is under control.
The purpose of this letter is to inform you of what the Board has been planning in preparing the temple and the service format to ensure that the temple and its activities will be as safe as possible in the event that there is a need to gather in the temple while the COVID-19 is not under control.
Following the government’s guidance on reopening religious facilities, Windward Buddhist Temple has made adjustments to our temple layout and service format to accommodate safe practices to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) definition of High-Risk population is: person 65 years of age and older; people of all ages with underlying medical conditions(particularly not well controlled, including people with chronic lung disease or moderate to severe asthma, people who have serious heart conditions, people who are immunocompromised, people with severe obesity, people with diabetes, people with chronic kidney disease undergoing dialysis, and people with liver disease, people who live in nursing home or long term care facility.
The City & County of Honolulu has five phases of “Impact to Daily Life from Stabilization to Resilience” that determines how long “Stay at Home” directives are in place. Currently Honolulu is in Phase 3: Act with Care. This Phase is followed by Phase 4: Recovery, and Phase 5: New Normal. The directive recommends that High-risk populations stay at home until New Normal Phase is proclaimed.
Since a large number of our members fall in the High-risk category, the Board is considering waiting until Honolulu is in Phase 5 which may not be in the near future.
This is what WBT is doing to prepare for the time when we can have live Sunday services. The temple will reopen for Sunday service after cleaning, sanitizing, and modifying the temple and the service format to meet the government recommendations for reopening. The following are the modifications:
Everyone (including visitors) is welcome to attend and is expected follow established safety procedures.
A sign will be posted outside the entry requesting people not to enter if they have the following:
Fever
Cough
Sneezing
Body ache
Difficulty breathing
Have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus or traveling in the last 2 weeks
Sign-in, provide contact information, and attest to the above information.
Everyone attending the service should notify WBT if they test positive for COVID-19 after attending the service. WBT will contact all who may have been exposed to the individual.
New service format:
Wear required face masks.
Allow volunteer to take your temperature before entering. Those with temperature of 100.4 F or higher will not be permitted to attend the service.
Follow physical distancing markers on entry area.
Use hand sanitizer upon entering.
No name tags.
Take a seat as directed by volunteer. Chairs are set in physically distanced groups. Family may seat adjacent to each other.
No Gatha and Sutra books. Service program will be projected on the screen.
No chanting or singing. Only minister will chant and sing while using a face shield.
Sanitize hands after monetary offering and before offering incense. (Offertory bowl and automatic dispensing sanitizer will be available before approaching the altar.)
Minister will give Dharma talk using a face shield. Lay speakers will do the same.
No fellowship and after service activities. No community sharing materials. Library is closed.
Use physical distancing as much as possible in the temple and when using the restrooms.
In the meantime, the Board is pleased to announce that WBT will be posting recorded services on its website beginning in August. You will receive further information about the details as soon as they are finalized. For those of you who are not able to access our website we hope that you have family members who would be able to allow you access to their computers.
One of the recorded Sunday service in August will be the WBT’s Obon service. This year we had to cancel the Bon Dance which also served as one of the major fundraising events for WBT. We hope that you will consider a donation to WBT in August to commemorate Obon. Please send your donation to:
Windward Buddhist Temple
268-A Kuulei Road
Kailua, HI 96734
Until the next time, please continue to be safe.
In Gassho,
Prudence Kusano, President
Windward Buddhist Temple
