Guidelines for going to the Mikvah
Important Notice About Women’s Mikvah
– Timely Messages from Rabbi Braun Episode #25 –
The following are the guidelines for going to the mikvah in our community during the current situation, based on what our doctors are saying.
Currently in our community, the following are considered symptoms of COVID:
- Fever
- Cough
- Shortness of breath
- Sore threat
- Muscle aches
- Loss of smell/taste
If you have any of these symptoms, you cannot go to Mikvah. (For loss of smell alone, see below.)
If you are recovering from these symptoms, the current guidelines are:
- that you must be free of symptoms for over 72 hours (and over 7 days from onset of symptoms) before you can go to Mikvah.
- If you are free of symptoms over 72 hours except for loss of smell/taste, or you have a small lingering cough, you can go to Mikvah but should wear a mask.
- If you are free of symptoms less than 72 hours and there are extraordinary circumstances, please ask the Rav.
If you are well according to the above, but are exposed to someone who is ill, you may go to Mikvah.
Note:
As a general rule, women shouldn’t go to mikvah when it’s forbidden or unsafe to be intimate.
There is a lot of confusion about COVID-19 and whether it is unsafe for a couple to be intimate, if the spouse has symptoms. AskTheRav cannot and will not replace the medical authorities in dispensing advice about this matter. Therefore, a woman should check with medical professionals if it’s safe to be intimate If the husband has symptoms.
