Alongside colleagues at Making Music, Singing Network UK, Association of British Orchestras (ABO), Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM), UK Music, Music Publishers Association, Music Industries Association we have written jointly to Professor Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer, and Dr Jenny Harries OBE at Public Health England.
We outline that we are not aware of new evidence; and how choirs were operating safely between August and December 2020, with a range of risk mitigations in place, including well-ventilated buildings, strict social distancing during activity from arrival to leaving, smaller group rehearsals to allow 4m per singer, the use of singers' facemasks, shorter rehearsals, hand sanitising, one way systems in venues, no sharing of equipment, strict exclusion of anyone with symptoms via pre-attendance questionnaires, allocated seating and thorough cleaning.
We ask that the evidence be published which has prompted the decision to single out choirs, out of all organised amateur performing arts activity as the one not safe enough to re-start and that the conditions be made explicit under which choirs may re-start meeting indoors in numbers greater than 6, in order to allow choirs and their committees the opportunity to forward plan.
We're also delighted to see that there are currently 20 parliamentary questions tabled in the House of Commons & 4 tabled in the House of Lords. Do encourage your singers and colleagues to write! Click here.
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Posted: Fri 28th May 2021