Discussing the current Covid -19 pandemic and communal singing.
Many articles and comments have been written and are currently circulating in the media as to the fear of transmission of Covid-19 when singing.
I have read many of them and attempted to assimilate the points made with the intention of clarifying this for you.
The lay media promoted the message that choral events in the United States of America and abroad, were responsible for transmitting Covid -19 among their communities, with serious infections and even a few deaths.
It must be said that present scientific evidence is still preliminary.
Public Health England are leading research at the moment into droplet transmission, and the World Health Organisation have conceded that evidence is emerging about the risk of aerosol transmission. i.e. the fine particles of moisture released from the mouth when coughing, speaking, shouting and indeed, singing. These aerosol emissions float and travel greater distances than normal small droplets and so give cause for greater concern. German scientists are at the forefront of this research, but as yet official opinions are plentiful and divergent.
Scientific research has not yet examined safe singing practices in relation to the risk of Covid-19 transmission. The evidence that exists is based on prior viral outbreaks e.g. measles.
It is likely that the risks can be mitigated with certain practices such as the wearing of masks and much ventilation, but risks cannot yet be eliminated.
It would be safer to sing outside where the air would be dispersed more readily. If one were to sing in the confined area of a practice room, doors and windows should be open to ventilate and rehearsal times should be made shorter. There should be limited social interaction i.e. “chit chat” and refreshments. (Sounds to me that the fun police would be very active!)
When planning to return to the resumption of “normal” practices, we must take into consideration the demographic differences within our group. The variety of our ages, many of us being blossoming wrinklies, and any underlying health conditions we may have among us. We have to consider and do all we can to mitigate as much risk as possible then decide whether the risk of Covid-19 transmission is sufficient to resume our physical singing activity.
A recent panel of experts in the world of voice care and singing stated that:
“There is no safe way for singers to rehearse together until there is a Covid-19 Vaccine and a 95% effective treatment in place.”
That is a resumé of the situation as it stands – at the moment, and I would responsibly abide by its conclusion. However, even with the threat of a second wave, I am optimistically of the opinion that the situation is fluid and I am ready to resume our physical singing activities as soon as it is safe to do so.
In the meantime I look forward to resuming our virtual practices on Wednesday 9th September 2020 at 7-30pm.
Wendy Edmonds
“Chief Arm Waver”