Social media is great for sharing articles right? Especially when a headline sounds like good news, right?
Here’s an example. If you follow a Christian organisation that believes that Churches should be free to be open and sing, the headline “Singing ‘no riskier than talking’ for virus spread”, confirms that belief.
Whilst if you read the BBC article in question, there are a few catches in regards to churches…
Singing does not produce substantially more respiratory particles than speaking at a similar volume, a study suggests.
But it all depends on how loud a person is, according to the initial findings which are yet to be peer reviewed.
This question of “how loud” someone is, seems to be a common theme through the article. I hope for the sake of Church leaders all over the world, that none of them will be forced to go down the route of measuring how loud people are singing.
And no, this study hasn’t been evaluated yet either.
Ventilation could also have an effect on how aerosol builds up. The larger the venue and the more ventilation there is could affect how concentrated the volumes are.
If articles like this are being used to press for permission to allow Churches to sing, then the whole issue should be included. Instead of pressuring singing to be allowed, surely there should be help to ensure all churches are ventilated properly? Singing is one thing, it appears singing safely is another. Lets not forget this.
Last point from the article.
Dr Julian Tang, honorary associate professor in respiratory sciences at the University of Leicester, said: “The risk is amplified when a group of singers are singing together, eg singing to an audience, whether in churches or concert halls or theatres. It is a nice study but not exactly representative of the real whole choir dynamic, which really needs further study to truly assess the risk of such large volume synchronised singing vocalisations/exhalations.
The above text was put into bold by Sofa.
Sofa is looking forward to the day when Churches can reunite, and worship God in song together, but lets not push for things to happen sooner than is helpful or safe. In the meantime, why dont we celebrate the acts of worship that do not look like singing?
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