The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released new guidelines for how people can stay safe for upcoming religious events this Easter weekend, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ general conference.
What are the CDC’s rules for Easter?
The CDC said in a new release that attending a gathering in person can increase your risk of getting COVID-19.
- “Attending gatherings to observe religious and spiritual holidays increases your risk of getting and spreading COVID-19. The safest way to observe religious and spiritual holidays this year is to gather virtually, with people who live with you, or outside and at least 6 feet apart from others,” according to the CDC.
- “If you plan to celebrate with others, outdoors is safer than indoors,” the CDC says.
The CDC said people should look to try the following over the religious holidays:
- Eat meals with people from within your household.
- Participate in your religious practices at home.
- Prepare a meal and deliver it to a neighbor.
- Watch religious performances virtually.
- Attend a religious ceremony virtually.
Can you celebrate Easter if you’re vaccinated?
In early March, the CDC released official guidelines for people who received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer, or those who received one dose of Johnson & Johnson.
- Those guidelines suggested fully vaccinated people can gather with small groups from other households without wearing a mask or social distancing, as I explained for the Deseret News.
- Fully vaccinated people can also hang out together without masks, NBC News reports.
And, in some cases, fully vaccinated people can gather with those who aren’t vaccinated — especially if those without the vaccine are low-risk.
- “For example, fully vaccinated grandparents can visit indoors with their unvaccinated healthy daughter and her healthy children without wearing masks or physical distancing, provided none of the unvaccinated family members are at risk of severe COVID-19,” the CDC wrote.