No more long goodbyes.
Concerns over the spread of swine flu have prompted The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to accelerate its plans to permanently allow only curbside drop-off of new missionaries at the Provo Missionary Training Center.
Parents and families taking new missionaries to the MTC will have to say goodbye to their sons or daughters in the parking lot from now on, the church announced Monday.
With this change, only missionaries will be allowed inside MTC buildings.
Parents and families had traditionally accompanied their missionary children into the center for a brief orientation before parting. Precautions to prevent possible spread of the H1N1 virus accelerated the church's plans to allow only curbside drop-off at the Provo MTC. All other church missionary training centers around the world already operate that way.
In addition, parents of missionaries entering the center are being asked to pay particular attention to the physical condition of their sons and daughters and to delay their arrival at the center if they show any signs of illness.
Missionaries and staff at the center also will be washing their hands more frequently, avoiding handshakes and hugging, and not playing basketball for the time being, said Elder Richard G. Hinckley, executive director of the LDS Church Missionary Department.
The health measures come after three missionaries at the center were diagnosed with the H1N1 virus and another 17 tested positive for the type A flu virus and are still being evaluated.
"Drop the missionaries off at curbside and give them a hug," Elder Hinckley said. "As always, the well-being of our missionaries is our top priority. We are erring on the side of caution and taking all necessary steps to ensure they are in a healthy environment. The MTC medical staff is following an established protocol designed to deal effectively with issues related to communicable diseases."
Dr. Donald B. Doty, chairman of missionary-health services, conceded the policy of saying goodbye to missionaries at the curb is a nuisance but necessary, because the training center is such a confined space, housing some 2,000 missionaries.
Elder Hinckley said it is believed that two weeks ago, a missionary arrived with a large family of 30, including one relative who had been to Mexico recently, and that's where the MTC's swine flu cases likely originated.
"Bring (missionaries) if they are healthy," Elder Hinckley said.
The missionary department is hoping to contact the families of all 500 missionaries headed to the training center on Wednesday to inform them of the new policies.
"I can understand their concern. But I'm not excited about it," Bountiful resident Wayne Carlson said of the brief goodbye he will have to give his son, Brent, when Brent enters the MTC in several weeks.
Doty said that as cars enter the parking lot, medical personnel will confer with the parents and missionaries about health issues. If a missionary is ill, he or she will immediately go to a special area.
If the number of swine flu cases at the center can be kept under 1 percent, then the situation is well under control, Doty said, adding that "most cases have been very mild" and have lasted about five days.
The MTC has also been holding all missionaries an extra seven to 10 days, so the swine flu incubation period passes before they depart.
"We watch very closely for symptoms," Elder Hinckley said. "The doctors have it well in hand."
Affected missionaries have had to remain in their rooms. They still study but have their meals delivered to them and receive oral medications.
The church is not aware of missionaries outside Mexico and the MTC who have the swine flu. Doty said of the 840 missionaries in Mexico when the flu first flared up, 26 were infected and have since fully recovered.
e-mail: lynn@desnews.com