We hope this finds you and your loved ones in good health. Two Birds Healing Arts Center is committed to your safety and health. By its very nature, massage and bodywork requires skin-to-skin and clothing to clothing contact and you should know that infection control has always been a top priority for us. 

Our bodywork and massage practices follow Practice Guidelines recommended by the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB), along with infection control recommendations made by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Minnesota State Reopening Requirements. As we navigate life with additional requirements and modify existing measures due to the coronavirus Covid-19, please help us to support all of our clients by cooperating with some new requirements. These requirements are here to help protect our clients, ourselves, and our community. For example: 

· We will communicate with you beforehand through phone or the emailed questions below to obtain your health information specifically concerning your potential exposure to COVID-19. 

· When you arrive at the Center, we ask that you wait in your vehicle until we text you, call you or wave you to come in. This ensures that we do not have too many people in the reception area at one time.

· We will greet you at the door and may use a no touch thermal temperature screening to confirm that you do not have a fever. 

· Remove any gloves and sanitize your hands at our front door sanitizing station before entering. We also have hand sanitizer available in treatment rooms and other places in the Center for you to use as needed.

· Please bring a face mask to wear while you are in the Center and during your massage. If you do not have or forget your mask, we will provide you with a complimentary one. Both the practitioner and client must wear a face mask during the session and throughout their time together in the Center.

· We will ask you if you have developed any symptoms of illness since our last phone or email communication. If you feel ill on the day of your session, there is no penalty for canceling your appointment. Massage is not advised if you have any symptoms of illness.

· The CDC suggests that COVID-19 infected respiratory droplets can be dispersed when people talk. For this reason, talking is limited to the intake interview, communication about pressure, warmth, direction, and comfort while in the enclosed space of the treatment room.

· Intra-oral or nasal massage is prohibited at this time because it increases the risk of COVID-19 exposure.

· Because a face mask is worn for the duration of the massage, safe face massage is not possible and therefore not performed at this time.

· New additions to our intake form include Covid-19 specific questions similar to the questions asked below. We will also ask you to sign an updated informed consent form that states, “I understand that, because Thai bodywork and massage therapies involve maintained touch and close physical proximity over an extended period of time, there may be an elevated risk of disease transmission, including COVID-19. By signing this form, I acknowledge that I am aware of the risks involved and give consent to receive Thai bodywork and massage therapy from this practitioner and/or use of facilities. I understand that my name and contact information might be shared with the state health department in the event that a client or practitioner at this facility tests positive for COVID-19”. 

· We will process your payment and any rebooking in the treatment room after you have had the opportunity to dress or regroup, reducing opportunity for contamination to other surfaces in the Center when performing these procedures.

1. Have you been asked to self-isolate or quarantine by a doctor or a local public health official in the last 14 days? 

2. Have you experienced any cold or flu-like symptoms in the last 14 days (fever, cough, shortness of breath or other respiratory problem)? 

3. Have you had close contact with or cared for someone diagnosed with COVID-19, or someone exhibiting cold or flu-like symptoms within the last 14 days? 

4. Have you been tested for COVID-19? What type of test did you have? When were you tested? What was the result?

While information is still limited, the CDC indicates that these underlying conditions place people at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19:

· People 65 years or older 

· Chronic lung disease

· Moderate to severe asthma 

· Heart conditions 

· Compromised or suppressed immunity 

· Severe obesity (body mass index of 40 or higher) 

· Diabetes 

· Chronic kidney disease 

· Liver disease

Unless otherwise directed by your primary healthcare provider, you are at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 and should consider not receiving massage while the virus is present in our communities.

We look forward to seeing you and are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we take to keep you, and every client, safe in our practice. We value your trust and look forward to welcoming you to a safe, therapeutic touch environment.

Sincerely with metta,

Two Birds Healing Arts Center