WEARING A FACE MASK in our sanctuary is currently optional. So as we decide individually whether and when to retain our masks, what factors should we take into account? This post briefly discusses four of them…
The Nature of the Beast
It is well documented that covid-19 transmission can take place at a distance of more than 6 feet, and that particles exhaled by an asymptomatic infectious person can hang in the air for more than 15 minutes. (See here, for example.)
Singing = Coughing
Whenever you are singing, you are basically coughing on anyone who’s in front of you, in terms of the aerosol particles transmitted thereby. I.e., it’s a great way to spread airborne disease.
A 1968 study investigated the role of singing in the spread of tuberculosis. It showed that the percentage of airborne droplet nuclei generated by singing is 6 times more than that emitted during normal talking — and approximately equivalent to that released by coughing. (Source: Loudon and Roberts, American Review of Respiratory Disease 98/2 [Aug 1968]: 297–300; as cited here.)
In short, if you’re planning to sing, it seems to me that the responsible thing to do is to wear a mask. And if you happen to be near unmasked people who are singing, it’s prudent to wear a mask for your own benefit.
Ventilation in the Room
Happily, our sanctuary is not a stuffy place. The large hall and the open doors and (usually open) windows provide ventilation that is akin to being outdoors. That enables everyone’s naturally exhaled aerosol droplets to be dissipated relatively quickly.
Are You Up on the Bimah?
Ventilation is obviously the poorest on the bimah. And yet that is where congregate the most intensively. This makes me wish that the curtains and doors of its two side chambers would be kept open.
Furthermore, I wish that portable filtration units were running up there, during the Torah Service. I’ve found some information online about such purifiers. Now we just need someone to follow up.… How about you?
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