As we head back into the school year and prepare to start our fall/holiday rehearsals, COVID is once again a hot topic. How will it affect us this year? What can we do to minimize its effect on our rehearsals and performances? How do we keep our singers safe and prevent superspreader events?
Some of the good news is that more recent mutations of the Omicron variant seem to be much less severe, particularly for vaccinated people. This decrease in severity is a common trend for viruses and will probably continue until the statement "it's just like the flu" becomes a reality.
Until then, however, we still have to navigate the ever-changing world of COVID risk. According to recent research, the absolute best way to ensure safety is to use rapid tests for all participants immediately before each rehearsal and continue to encourage participants to get vaccinated and stay home when feeling ill. However, with COVID tests costing about $10 each, unless you can find a few thousand extra dollars in your budget, you're probably among those of us looking for additional ways to mitigate COVID's ever-changing impact.
This fall, my choir will be implementing a COVID ‘Stoplight System’ for our rehearsals. We have three levels of COVID safety that we have agreed upon, and we will assess 48 hours before each rehearsal which level we will be operating at for that rehearsal. This practice will allow us to sing together and maximize our in-person rehearsals while allowing flexibility for new developments.
I've outlined the Stoplight System we are using below, but it's important to note that there are a few additional factors in place to set us up for safety and success:
With all of that in mind, our COVID Stoplight System has three levels of color-coded actions corresponding to Red, Yellow, and Green that are assessed 48 hours before rehearsal begins.
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
Part of this Stoplight System stems from comments from last season, during which we all sang with masks and spacing during each rehearsal but had a snack socialization time every week. Many choir members expressed frustration about wearing masks and continuing spacing when COVID was barely present in the community; others pointed out that removing our face coverings to eat snacks negated the point of wearing them entirely. And while any reduction in viral load is helpful, singing with masks and spacing all the time just isn't the experience most choir members are looking for.
So far, our choir has managed to avoid any superspreader events. We've performed several outdoor concerts and rehearsal sets to help with this and have been careful to err on the side of caution when developing our safety procedures. But with COVID here to stay, we're also aware that it's our responsibility to support the other physical and mental health benefits of singing within a choir community as well.
Our new Stoplight System is just our most recent attempt to strike a balance that works for both safety and enjoyment. You're more than welcome to steal the idea and modify it for your own choir if you think it would be helpful!
What other methods are you using to monitor and protect against Covid in your choir? Let me know in the comments below.