tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post8477507649356956394..comments2024-03-27T15:47:46.091-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: Sooooo, maybe not?!Pastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-51431878141731550712020-05-16T01:40:44.669-05:002020-05-16T01:40:44.669-05:00I found your blog when doing a devotional study on...I found your blog when doing a devotional study on the peace of God and looking up what "reasonableness means." I benefited from your 2011 comments on that topic in respect to rejoice. I am a medical doctor(retired) and also a trained singer. Even before I had heard about the Sagit choir you referenced, I had wondered if anything particular about the mechanics of singing(besides just the sitting/standing close together while breathing in unison) might pose an increased risk of easily spreading the virus. But I didn't really dwell on it. I greatly appreciate your desire to return to "safe" singing as soon as possible, but I really don't think you appreciate the very real concerns about how the very mechanics of singing can potentially amplifying the ability to spread the virus. The Sagit choir did not have anyone in the group who was known to be sick. A large percentage of the people got ill, and two died. I'm a soprano, and even at age 59, my training in singing still allows me to "hit those high notes," albeit not as easily and confidently as I did when I was younger. Singing is amazingly complex, and the process does require deep inhalations and then pushing air out at the pressure needed to project the sound. It may still be considered a theory, but it is one that does have good scientific basis--that singing helps "aerosolize" the virus and also fills the air with more viral particles than would just occur with a random cough here or there, or someone just talking. I have joked(rather ruefully) that because I am a high soprano and have the ability to sing loudly and at a high pitch, with pretty great breath control, I'd probably be one of "the best" at propelling viruses around. But it isn't really a joke. I don't consider myself as either an "expert" in singing or in infectious diseases, but with the knowledge and experience that I have in both fields, I think it is a serious mistake to not take concerns about public singing, particularly in the cozy confines of our churches, as not that important. The fact that the Sagit incident happened earlier on makes no difference to the argument. People there said no one appeared to be sick(weren't coughing/sneezing) and they used hand sanitizer and other precautions. The virus can be shed when the patient does not know they are ill. There are still going to be people in the community in that category, and even now, people who can actively shed viruses could probably do it so much more effectively when making lovely music by inhaling deeply and forcing it out frequently and at a high pressure, through relatively small pathways. As a church, we will be safer to meet together to preach, pray, and take the sacraments fairly soon. But singing may have to come later, or with different precautions. And yes, that is a "theory" but one based on some very real observations from the Sagit Choir, and also from the mechanics of singing. Priscilla Thibault, MDPriscillahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03033837413295551827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-19018188991335216582020-05-11T21:13:06.111-05:002020-05-11T21:13:06.111-05:00Thanks for providing a voice of reason. Thanks for providing a voice of reason. OldSouthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01381229263357074199noreply@blogger.com