Hi Jonathan,

Here's the thing: your local English group held dances in the late spring and summer. But I would contend that their experiences are not a good representation of the current situation. The Delta variant began its surge in midsummer and that has changed the risk equation. The Delta variant is at least twice as transmissible than the previous variants, and it increasingly infects younger people more extensively than previous variants. And younger people get sicker than with the earlier variants. We also know that vaccinated people can still transmit this virus, albeit at lower levels than nonvaccinated folks. Nonetheless there is a continued and disturbing occurrence of breakthrough cases.

Current regulations with crowds are based on typical crowd situations -- sporting events, rallies, classrooms, concerts, etc. But how much good data is available for crowds that are actively moving together in a closed room, who are touching and holding each other and changing partners frequently, who may be breathing harder and are breathing close together even with masks?

I love to dance, but I am very cautious. Both for myself and for any groups I organize. Perhaps the booster vaccines, the increased availability of rapid testing, the vaccination of young children, and the new antiviral drugs will make a big difference. I certainly hope so. Meanwhile, I prefer to wait.

Best,
Woody
Roseburg, Oregon


On 10/15/2021 5:27 PM, Jonathan Sivier via Contra Callers wrote:
     Our local contra dance group has not started dancing again.  In June and early July we were discussing starting again in the fall and trying to figure out how that would work.  It was likely going to be for vaccinated only, but wearing masks seems less useful when you are in physical contact with a large group of people.  However, the Delta surge has made us put all these plans on hold.  I'm not sure what conditions will need to be in order to start up again.  Certainly I think we would want to wait until the transmission level is below "High".  Whether we need to wait for it to be "Low" I don't know.

    However, our local English group did hold 3 dances in the late spring and summer.  These were for fully vaccinated dancers (and band members).  They were held outdoors and everyone wore masks (except the woodwind player in the band).  Under those circumstances we felt comfortable enough to do some dancing.  We didn't have any negative occurrences.  We didn't specifically slow things down due to masks, but we did go a bit slower since it had been over a year since any of us had been dancing.  Whether that made a difference with the masks or not I can't say.

Jonathan

On 10/15/2021 7:14 PM, Greenleaf via Contra Callers wrote:

Those of you who are sponsoring live contra events, can you answer Becky’s other question:

"But it would be very useful to us if we knew of other dance organizations that had already begun vaccinated-only dances, so we could learn how that’s going. (Do they require masks? Can people enjoy the dance with masks? Has anyone gotten sick? What adaptations, e.g., slowing down the music, have they needed to make to accommodate mask-wearing? What systems have worked well for verifying vaccination status?)”

For many of us, it’s the mechanics of Covid regulations that are tricky.

Thanks,

Lisa Greenleaf