The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in late 2019 and its increased presence in the United States led Capital Aikikai to halt indoor classes in March of 2020. When vaccinations became widely available and our members were able to benefit from them, Capital Aikikai was able to resume indoor classes in Spring of 2021. Unfortunately, the rapid surge in cases of COVID-19 due to the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 led us to once again stop indoor classes at the dojo just before Christmas of 2021.
Becoming apparent that SARS-CoV-2 may be with us for the indefinite future, at the January 2022 general membership meeting we discussed guidelines for determining when it is safe to practice indoors. The result of that discussion is the policy presented here.
Note that this policy may be modified or updated at the discretion of the Capital Aikikai Board as circumstances change.
In order to train at Capital Aikikai you must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as defined by the CDC. You must also be "up to date" as defined by the CDC. At the time of this writing this means having had one booster once you are eligible.
You must sign a waiver form attesting to the fact that you are fully vaccinated, and you must produce proof of your vaccination status at that time.
Capital Aikikai adheres to all masking requirements of Montgomery County, MD, in which it is located. You will be required to wear a mask while training if the County has deemed it necessary. The latest COVID-19 guidelines from Montgomery County are available here.
Capital Aikikai will stop indoor training altogether when the number of cases of COVID-19 averaged over seven days equals or exceeds 200 per day in Montgomery County, MD. The dojo will not resume indoor training until the seven-day average case rate falls below 200 per day in Montegomery County.
You can find the latest daily count of COVID-19 cases for Montgomery County, MD, averaged over seven days, with a Google search. The search results come from this New York Times page, which you can access if you are a subscriber.
The Montgomery County COVID-19 site also has information about the case rate in the area, but it is presented as per-capita values instead of totals. But that site contains other useful information for Montgomery County residents, such as where to acquire free N95 masks, free at-home rapid test kits, and vaccines and boosters.