Before You Arrive in Montreat

1. See how many of your participants can be vaccinated before you travel! Every state has different criteria and availability, but eligibility is widening in a lot of places. In North Carolina, all residents age 12 and up are eligible to be vaccinated. Vaccinated people who are exposed to COVID-19 do not have to isolate for 10 days following exposure, so having vaccinated adults and youth in your group is great for public health and great for maintaining the functioning of your group if someone in the group comes down with symptoms!
    

2. Montreat will provide you with a pre-arrival symptom checker to be followed by EACH PERSON who will be traveling with the group. This checker covers the 14 days prior to arrival. This form will be turned in for each individual at registration.
    

3. Ask any unvaccinated youth or adults in your group to stay home a much as possible during the 14 days prior to departure, get tested 5 days prior to departure, or both. Knowing that you've done one or both of these best practices will give you peace of mind as you prepare for the trip to Montreat.

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While You Are In Montreat

These requirements are laid out in North Carolina’s guidelines for overnight camps:

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Church Group Leaders will be responsible for conducting a daily symptom screening of participants using this screening tool Montreat provides. Bring your own thermometer!

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Church Group Leaders will be responsible for immediately isolating a sick participant from others in the group and arranging a COVID test. COVID-19 testing is readily available in Black Mountain.

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If a participant has been diagnosed with COVID-19 or is presumed positive by a medical professional due to symptoms, the participant should be isolated until they meet the CDC criteria for release from isolation:

• No fever for at least 24 hours since recovery (without the use of fever-reducing medicine) AND

• Other symptoms have improved (e.g., coughing, shortness of breath) AND

• At least 10 days have passed since the individual first had symptoms.

Obviously, the length of time required to achieve these criteria is longer than the conference itself. Church Leaders should have a plan for getting participants back home or, if that's not possible, keeping that participant isolated from the rest of the group for the remainder of the trip.

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Montreat will work with our local health department to identify close contacts of confirmed cases. Close contacts are defined by the CDC as someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes starting from 2 days before illness onset (or, for asymptomatic clients, 2 days prior to positive specimen collection) until the time the patient is isolated.

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Depending on your housing situation, there's a possibility that each unvaccinated person in your group would have to isolate if you have one positive case in your group, because each person would be a close contact of the infected person. This is why we are working so hard to limit the number of close contacts each participant will have at the conference. We want everyone to be able to particulate fully all week!

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DINING ROOM PLANS FOR SUMMER 2021

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The Galax Dining room may not be open to the public for all meals. Meal hours and availability vary with each conference. Check with the front desk of the Assembly Inn by calling 828.419.9844 for more information. (Children under the age of 5 eat free).

 

• Guests will be required to wear masks while inside the Assembly Inn. This includes the Galax Dining room. The only time guests will be allowed to remove their mask is while they are seated and actively eating and drinking. All staff will be masked at all times.

• Guests will be given hand sanitizer as they enter the Galax Dining Room. Hand sanitizer will also be available on tables, at beverage and bussing stations.

• We’ll be serving buffet style and beverage stations will be open.

• Gloves will be provided for guests to use if they wish to wear while going down the buffet line -Guests will be asked to social distance while they are in line

• Tables will be assigned in the following sections: Montreat Conference Center Staff, Worship and Music Faculty, Worship and Music Conferees. You are able to choose to sit at any table within your section and you will not be required to sit in the same spot all week.

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Furniture has been arranged to meet restaurant social distancing guidelines for our state. Please do not move any dining room furniture. Table occupancy may be limited. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult at all times. Dining room attendants will be available if you need anything while eating. Please note that these arrangements are subject to change based on state and local mandates and best safety practices.

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Lobby furniture has not been moved for social distancing. We’re counting on guests to remember to keep your distance, and to only sit with members of your family or those you traveled with.