Diocese Of Jefferson City, MO Has Resumed Public Mass

A visitor tells me, "The city opened up May 4, and public Masses resumed May 5 with a weekday Mass." According to the link the visitor sent,

During Mass:

1. Entry and exit doors are to be adequately designated and monitored. Entry doors are to be propped or held open before Mass, and exit doors are to be propped or held open at the end of Mass to prevent people from touching the door handles, knobs or push plates.
2. Staff, ushers or other volunteers should assist with directing people to pews specifically marked. Attendance may be limited to assure compliance with social distancing requirements.
3. Families are to maintain six-foot distancing between their family and other families or individuals throughout the celebration of Mass.
4. Offertory processions are suspended as well as the sign of peace. Collection baskets (or any other materials) shall not be passed from one family to another, nor shall ushers take up the collection from the congregation. Stationary baskets are to be used for donations from the assembly and are to be monitored by the ushers until the donations are collected and handled according to the proper protocols in place for handling the collection.
5. All concelebrating priests and deacons are to receive Holy Communion by intinction utilizing a separate chalice from the main celebrant and with the last clergy communicant consuming all that remains in the Chalice.
6. For the distribution of communion, ushers or other volunteers who are masked and gloved will ensure six-foot distancing in the communion line. Floor markings shall be placed six feet apart in the aisles in which the congregation approaches the sanctuary for communion to facilitate proper social distancing.
7. Communion ministers must be masked, sanitize their hands immediately before and after distributing Communion, and when at all possible, to utilize a disinfectant wipe or purificator dipped in a sanitizing solution (at least 60% ethanol or 70% isopropyl alcohol) to sanitize their fingers when incidental contact is made with the communicant.
8. Distribution of Holy Communion from the chalice is prohibited to the assembly. For those who are gluten intolerant, special arrangements are to be made with the pastor.
9. For the distribution of Holy Communion, a single-file for each Communion minister is necessary to maintain social distancing. Multiple Communion ministers may be used as long as one-way traffic patterns are observed.
10. During this time, Holy Communion will only be distributed in the hand in keeping with the advice of state health officials and thereby to avoid the Communion minister’s fingers coming into contact with saliva.
11. When approaching the Communion minister, the communicant is to pull their mask below their chin and present one hand resting on the palm of the other. After responding “Amen,” the communicant reverently places the Eucharist in his or her mouth and immediately replaces their mask.

As we're beginning to see with other dioceses, many details are not micromanaged at the diocesan level but are left to the judgment of individual pastors. However, the visitor says,

In our parish, the problem is parishioners who come to Mass but refuse to take any precautions. As a result, I am staying home. Fortunately I have a dispensation through June.

Clearly people are going to have different comfort levels about any public activity going forward. As far as I can see from these guidelines, communion ministers and ushers must be masked. Ushers must also be gloved. Communion ministers must sanitize their hands. There isn't a specific requirement for communicants, other than that they maintain the xix-foot distance.

I think overall, these guidelines err on the side of caution, which considering the context is appropriate. So far, individuals have the option of staying home with the dispensation not to attend public mass.

In many states and municipalities, there's been no practical relaxation of lockdowns, and even in dioceses that have begun to offer public masses, the need for rows of pews to be roped off or other limits on attendance will continue to restrict ability of people to attend them for the foreseeable future.

But where dioceses have been able to hold public mass at all, this is at least a mildly encouraging sign.