COVID GUIDELINES

Longfellow Covid Policies Update

February 26, 2022

Dear Members and Friends,

It’s been nearly two years since we voluntarily closed the doors to our clubs on March 15, 2020. To say that the past two years have been challenging would be a massive understatement. We are thrilled that Longfellow has been able to survive and thrive during this historic and painful pandemic.

We have learned during these past 24 months that when it comes to identifying the optimal policies that will keep our club as a happy, healthy, and safe place to exercise and socialize, we must be nimble and be as scientific as possible. The Longfellow Management Team has met regularly to assess the current situation and determine a course of action that was safe and met the needs of most (if not all) of our members.

We feel that we have done a good job in keeping everyone safe and we have not identified a single person who was infected by the Coronvirus at our clubs. We know this pandemic is not over, and we will continue to study the state of the pandemic in order to make policies that protect our members, clients, staff, and our community.

On Friday our Management Team met and we had a lengthy and broad discussion on how we should respond to the changes in federal, state, and municipal policies. Just yesterday the CDC came out with a change in their recommendations regarding who should be wearing masks and under what circumstances.

From the CDC:

“Most Americans live in places where healthy people, including students in schools, can safely take a break from wearing masks under new U.S. guidelines released Friday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlined the new set of measures for communities where COVID-19 is easing its grip, with less of a focus on positive test results and more on what’s happening at hospitals. The new system greatly changes the look of the CDC’s risk map and puts more than 70% of the U.S. population in counties where the coronavirus is posing a low or medium threat to hospitals. Those are the people who can stop wearing masks, the agency said.”

We have checked with this map, and Middlesex County, as well as all of Massachusetts, is included in this 70%. As a result of this change in the CDC policy, as well as the recent change in town policies, we have changed our mask wearing policies at Longfellow.

NEW LONGFELLOW MASK WEARING POLICY

Beginning Monday, February 28, 2022, with a few exceptions, no one is required to wear a mask when inside or outside a Longfellow facility.

These are the exceptions to the policy:

Juniors in the Orange, Green, and Yellow Longfellow junior group tennis programs are required to wear masks until March 14. Masks are optional for junior singles and private lessons.
Juniors and parents in the Red Ball junior tennis program at the Youth Sports Zone in Wayland are required to wear masks until April 4, 2022. At Natick the Red Ball junior program, masks will be required until March 14.
At the Natick Children’s Center and Nursery, masks are required until the Town of Natick changes their requirement which may happen soon.
At the Wayland/Sudbury Children’s Center and Nursery, masks are required until March 7,2022.

We are changing this mask-wearing policy because we feel Longfellow is a safe place to be for the reasons stated above. We understand that there are many good reasons to continue to wear masks and we fully support that choice.

We are grateful for the support we have received from our staff and our members as we work to navigate the complicated Covid pandemic. Without the willingness of our community to come together to defeat this virus, Longfellow would not have the healthy and safe environment we’ve worked to create.

With gratitude,

Laury and Myke

REMINDER

No One Is Allowed to Enter Longfellow if They Have One Of the Following Symptoms:

Fever or chills
Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Fatigue
Muscle or body aches
Headache
New loss of taste or smell
Sore throat
Congestion or runny nose
Nausea or vomiting
Diarrhea

The owners and Longfellow Management Team have developed the following policies that we believe are important for you to know and understand.

Vaccinations and Booster Shots
Longfellow is a business that strongly encourages everyone to receive the Covid Vaccination and the Booster Shot–we are a pro-vaccination business. The science is clear:

Vaccinations have protected millions of people in the US and reduced the risk of death dramatically.
The vast majority of deaths and hospitalizations in MA and US are people who have not been vaccinated.
Recently, Longfellow offered our club to be a site for receiving the Moderna Booster Shot and nearly 300 people received this important addition to being fully vaccinated.

Vaccinations for Staff
Last week it became a law that employees of all companies with over 100 staff members must be vaccinated. Our Wayland and Natick clubs each have over 100 employees. Longfellow supports this new law and we will comply with this policy. As of today 98% of our 225 staff members have been fully vaccinated. Because of the growth of the variants of Covid (Delta, Omicron, and others), and because Covid infections are increasing in Massachusetts and most of New England, Longfellow will be requiring all staff members to be fully vaccinated by January 31, 2022.

Staff members are strongly encouraged to get a Booster shot as soon as possible.
For the few staff members who are not vaccinated between now and January 31, 2022, they must wear a mask whenever they are in the club. (This has been the Longfellow policy from the beginning of the pandemic).

Vaccinations for Members, Clients, and Visitors
Longfellow strongly encourages everyone to get vaccinated and get the important Booster Shot as soon as possible.

As of December 16, 2021, Longfellow will require all new members to show us their vaccination card before joining.

The vaccination rates of the six primary towns that Longfellow services are all extraordinarily high–Natick Wayland, Sudbury and Weston all have vaccination rates over 80%, and Wellesley and Framingham have vaccination rates over 70%. Based on conversations with members and friends of Longfellow and the data, we believe that the vast majority of members, clients, and visitors who enter our club are fully vaccinated.
Longfellow has worked closely with the Boards of Health where we are located. Our Management Team has made every effort to identify the source of any infections and who may have been close to someone who was in contact with someone who became infected.

Rapid At-Home Testing
Although Rapid At-Home testing is not as accurate as PCR testing, many medical leaders and Pandemic experts feel that regular testing at home by everyone would go a long way toward eliminating the Coronavirus and its variants. When people learn they have Covid early in the infection, they can take immediate measures to quarantine and ensure they don’t infect others.

Disinfectant and Cleaning Policies
We continue to have hand sanitizer placed throughout the club and encourage all members to wipe down their cardio and strength machines both before and after they use them. Our cleaning staff continues to clean all the machines on a regular basis. Our locker rooms are cleaned on a daily basis.

Ventilation and Air Purification
Ventilation and air purification are important issues for safe indoor spaces.

We have installed the Nu-Calgon iWave-C purification system in the fitness areas of our clubs. This system has been proven to kill the coronavirus.
The indoor courts have excellent exhaust systems that can completely replace the air in 15 minutes.
Our tennis and pool air structures have a turnover rate of more than four times an hour.