Taking a Chance on Choir?

There is a reason why church leaders should be cautious about returning to the same type of worship services as they had before the lock down. Group singing spreads the virus and having a moderate sized congregation spend an hour together within an enclosed space is too high of risk for the foreseeable future. Consider what happened in Skagit County, Washington on March 10th of this year. A 121-member choir decided to have their usual practice in spite of concerns about COVID-19. There weren’t any known cases in their county at that time, though Seattle an hour to the south was having in the midst of a deadly outbreak. They chose to make the practice as safe as possible, distancing themselves as they sang, avoiding handshakes and hugs, bringing their music from home, etc. They were careful to warn those with symptoms to stay home. Contact tracers believe that a single asymptomatic carrier among them resulted in about 60 new cases, many hospitalizations, an additional outbreak among their family and friends, and the deaths of two choir members. See link for further details: https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-03-29/coronavirus-choir-outbreak