A comprehensive guide for choirs returning to in-person activities during Covid-19

***New research around Covid-19, Delta and other variants, vaccine efficacy and safety protocols for in-person activities is ongoing, and new data is always being released. Please make sure you read the up-to-date information provided by the CDC and your regional health authorities, and listen to the experts when making your decisions.

Covid-19 took a LOT from a lot of people, and for those of us who found our home in choral organizations, as singers, managers, and directors, 2020 will forever be known as the year that singing became a “dangerous activity”. The good news is, things are looking up!

A recent poll of choral leaders in North America, showed that the majority of choirs and choral organizations are returning to in-person activities this fall, including rehearsals and performances. That begs the question: how?

With the highly contagious Omicron variant surging, and an average of 750,000 new cases of Covid-19 being reported daily in the USA, there isn’t an obvious answer, but there is hope. We’ve compiled a comprehensive list of resources, suggestions, and advice from experts to help you tackle the big questions when making your reopening plans this Fall.

Rehearsal Formats & attendance policies

Covid-19 has many choirs and choruses re-assessing their attendance and sick policies in favor of more leniency for members missing rehearsals. Arts organizations, and society in general, have always indirectly discouraged “sick days” and, as a result, choirs historically held strict attendance policies - even going as far as to recommend choristers attend while they’re sick but sit “apart” from the rest of the group.

This pandemic has caused us to shift our perspectives on attendance, and forced choir leaders everywhere to explore other options.

This year, even as most choirs are returning to in-person rehearsals, we have to re-evaluate our policies and create options for members who can’t attend due to illness.

Rehearsal Recordings:

One way that choirs can accommodate a relaxed attendance policy is by recording each rehearsal and sharing the recordings with members in a private server (i.e. google drive, dropbox, member portal). Choristers who miss rehearsals can watch the recording and make sure they are caught up by the following week.

Virtual Rehearsals:

We’ve learned so much over the last 2 years, like the ability to run online rehearsals using platforms like zoom and other video conferencing services. Allowing your choir members the option of ‘zooming in’ for virtual rehearsals is a great way to not only accommodate members who are sick, but also anyone who isn’t comfortable attending in-person.

We know that virtual choirs can’t truly replicate an in-person experience (nothing will ever compare!), but it is one of the best ways to create flexible options for your community members, wherever they are and however they are feeling.

Live streaming services are another good alternative to video conferencing for virtual rehearsals. You can use Facebook Live, for example, to stream your rehearsal in real time to a members only FB Group. Vimeo has a similar feature, where you can stream live via a private link that only your members have access to.

Covid Friendly Rehearsal Venues

When deciding on rehearsal and performance venues for your upcoming season, there are a number of things to consider:

Current regional restrictions on indoor gatherings, and event attendance.

Health orders and current regulations in your area could affect how many choir members can attend a rehearsal in-person, as well as how many tickets you can sell for an event. Always make sure you are up-to-date with the most recent mandates and restrictions, and be prepared to change your plans.

Size and capacity of the venue.
Social distancing is still an effective countermeasure against Covid-19. Wherever possible, consider how to maintain distance between singers. 6 ft of distance is still the recommendation. A summary of current recommendations can be found on the Chorus America website here, and here is a short video that outlines mitigation strategies for choirs.
Air Flow and filtration.

How does ventilation reduce transmission risk?

Ventilation is the exchange of dirty air for fresh or clean air. A good ventilation system actively removes airborne particles from the air and dilutes indoor air thereby reducing the concentration of infectious particles in the room. Ventilation can clean the air, but has limited effect on short range droplets and concentrated aerosols (for example when people are close together and/or facing each other). Ventilation is effective when used in conjunction with other implemented safety measures.

There are two type of ventilation:

Natural ventilation – relies on natural air currents to create air flows or exchanges, such as via windows and doors.
Mechanical ventilation – uses fans, blowers or extractors to move air into and out of spaces, which may be 100% outside air, or partially recirculated/filtered air. It may be part of an overall heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system.

Consider whether your space has adequate ventilation, or if you can invest in a portable air filtration system.

Take breaks!

Especially if ventilation is limited, taking extra breaks can allow for air exchange in the room. Limit vocal activity to 30 minutes, followed by at least a 10-minute break (longer is better). Make sure you vacate the room entirely.

To mask, or not to mask?

How effective are masks at preventing the spread of Covid-19 while singing? Science says - very effective!

Masks reduce both the VELOCITY and the LENGTH at which particles of Covid-19 are expelled when singing, and they reduce the CONCENTRATION of infected particles that are distributed. In several circumstances where choir events became “super spreader” events, covid safety measures were in place (distancing, air flow) but masks were not used.

If you’ve ever tried singing in a surgical style mask, you’ll know that it comes with challenges, the foremost being that the fabric itself regularly gets sucked into your mouth as you breathe. Breathing and resonance are both critical components to producing quality sound while singing. Masks can make it more difficult to breathe, and muffle the sound, making it very difficult to sing with clarity and with natural resonance.

Watch this brief video on the effectiveness of masks to see for yourself

Now there are masks designed specifically for singers, that reduce the effect of masks on clarity and resonance, but are still highly effective against the spread of droplets. Look for masks that are fitted to the face, with a structure designed to keep fabric away from the mouth.

Here are some examples:

If you plan to purchase singer’s masks for your choir, make sure you do your research and choose a reliable manufacturer/distributor. We always recommend you read the reviews and compare options before purchasing.

Additional safety measures & policy considerations

Covid Declaration Forms

You’ve seen them before, probably every time you go to the dentist or doctor’s office! They’re those electronic forms you fill out to declare “I’m not experiencing any symptoms of covid” and “I haven’t been in contact with a confirmed case”. Some choir management systems allow you to automate this process and send these simple declaration forms to your choir members before every rehearsal. This system is especially useful for youth and children’s choirs, whose members are mostly unvaccinated. Sending a gentle task-oriented reminder to parents that they should not send their kids to choir if they have any symptoms of illness, or have been exposed to a possible covid case at school, can go a long way in maintaining the safety of your choristers and team members. Learn about the Choir Genius covid declaration forms here.

Testing **(new)**

In many places, rapid testing is now available and accessible. Using rapid tests regularly to screen choir members for Covid-19 can be another effective method of keeping your community safe.

Important things to remember:

Rapid tests are not 100% accurate
Rapid tests are not a replacement for other important safety measures (i.e. distancing, vaccines, mask wearing, ventilation)
Rapid tests work by detecting a protein that makes up part of the virus, and can tell you whether you have an active infection, however, if you take the test too early in the course of infection there may not be enough particles for the test to detect.
Asymptomatic people CAN spread the virus, but may not test positive using a Rapid test

For more info of rapid tests: check out this article by Christopher Labos, MD: READ HERE

Vaccines

(Some info here may be out of date, based on the Delta variant which is no longer the dominant strain in most places)

How effective are vaccines against Covid-19 variants?

Most health authorities agree that, although less effective against the Delta variant and Omicron variant, vaccines are still an important part of our fight against against Covid-19.

Most studies seem to indicate that the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are about 80% effective against infection from Covid-19, although some have suggested that their effectiveness might be as low as 60%. Not all of these studies have been peer reviewed, and there is still a lot of information to be gathered. Read about these studies in this article published on Healthline.

**80% efficacy does NOT mean that 20 out of 100 vaccinated individuals still get Covid-19. Efficacy is calculated based on a comparison of infection rates between vaccinated and unvaccinated people. “One common misunderstanding is that 95% efficacy means that in the Pfizer clinical trial, 5% of vaccinated people got COVID. But that's not true; the actual percentage of vaccinated people in the Pfizer (and Moderna) trials who got COVID-19 was about a hundred times less than that: 0.04%.” Brianne Barker, Ph. D. in Immunology.

CDC on “Breakthrough Infections”

What is vaccine efficacy & how is it calculated?

Vaccines are widely supported as the best way to protect yourself and your community against Covid-19, even against the Delta variant. While requiring members to prove vaccination status can bring up a lot of questions for choir leaders, and will definitely be met with resistance by some, preliminary survey results show that the majority of choirs in North America will require singers to be fully vaccinated to participate. The general consensus is: vaccines are critical in the fight against Covid-19, and the majority of choral groups are in support.

Chorus America recently released an article outlining the legal considerations for choirs who want to mandate vaccines for employees, choristers and any other community members. “In the U.S., under federal law and current guidelines, choruses—like other private employers and organizations—can require staff, volunteers, and audiences to get vaccinated in most cases.” Read the full article here.

Tracking & Proof of Vaccines. Some groups are simply using the honor system, others will be checking vaccine cards upon entry to the rehearsal hall, and still others are going as far as to track member’s vaccine dates and medical status. When making your decision around proof of vaccinations, keep in mind that tracking vaccine dates and status (ie. boosters) CAN bring up some additional concerns around liability and privacy.

Medical Data and Security.

Remember, that if you are tracking medical data, ensuring you have a secure and safe place to keep it is absolutely critical. There are serious liability concerns (and limitations) when it comes to storing personal information like medical records. If your data cloud is breached, or the information falls into the wrong hands you could find yourself in a difficult legal situation.

How do I know if my data is secure?

If you’re planning on storing medical data in a digital format, make sure you trust the software you’re using. Data clouds can be an effective way of storing information, but they also might be easy to hack (especially if multiple people have access to the digital folders/saved passwords for those folders). When considering the safety of cloud data, HERE is an article that might help.

If you plan to use your member management software to store medical data, remember- not all member management platforms are built the same! Is it a private database? Do you own all your data? A little reassurance, and a solid, secure data centre can go a long way.

Consider your liability.

Most insurance plans for organizations do NOT cover “pandemics” in any way. At this time, there is no Ministerial Order protecting amateur arts organizations from potential liability, such as there is for amateur sports organizations.

If you still have questions and concerns about re-opening, know that you’re not alone! It’s hard to plan when it feels like everything could change at any moment. This year, adaptability will be your best ally. Connect with other choral leaders in your area, look at what organizations like yours are doing and listen to the experts when they make recommendations.

Let’s get back on the risers - safely!