Virus could mute church singing
As churches in Oklahoma and elsewhere gradually reopen, they might do well to discourage congregational singing and keep the choir section empty for a while longer — perhaps a good while. Singing may be good for the soul but amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it can be dangerous.
During a world summit webinar last week for choir leaders and music teachers, the president of the Performing Arts Medical Association said that until there is a COVID-19 vaccine and a 95% effective drug treatment available, there isn't a safe way for singers to rehearse together.
The group's president, Dr. Lucinda Halstead, is medical director of the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of South Carolina. She and Dr. Donald Milton, an infectious bio-aerosol specialist at the University of Maryland, said lack of proper ventilation is a major concern because of how COVID-19 can spread.
Halstead said it would not be possible to safely put a choir on a stage. “You would need a football stadium to space apart the Westminster choir,” she said, referring to the 46-member Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey.
A church in Mount Vernon, Washington found out how quickly this coronavirus can spread among choir members. In early March, when there were no prohibitions on large gatherings, the director of the Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church held rehearsal. Sixty of the 121 members attended.
The Los Angeles Times reported that members didn't share the usual hugs and handshakes; a greeter offered hand sanitizer. Singers brought their own sheet music and an effort was made to keep some distance between members. According to some who attended, no one was coughing or sneezing or appeared sick. Practice lasted 2 1/2 hours.
Within several days, 45 choir members had been diagnosed with COVID-19 or showed symptoms. Two died.
“Singing, to a greater degree than talking, aerosolizes respiratory droplets extraordinarily well,”
Erin Bromage, associate professor of biology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, wrote recently. “Deep-breathing while singing facilitated those respiratory droplets getting deep into the lungs. Twoand-a-half hours of exposure ensured that people were exposed to enough virus over a long enough period of time for infection to take place.”
On the webinar, Halstead said that until a vaccine and drug treatments are readily available, “social distancing, including masks, gloves and spacing, is key.” However, she and Milton also said there was no spacing solution that would eliminate risk for choirs, face masks don't provide adequate protection, and testing still results in too many false negatives.
Asked about the webinar, one physician/singer described the findings as “bleak.” However, he told the editor of themiddleclassartist.com, “The same science telling us it's dangerous to sing together now is also what can help us find a way through this dark time.”
God willing, that will happen sooner rather than later. Until then, cue the soloist.