We’re really pleased to be back to rehearsals, and I hope you thoroughly enjoyed last week’s rehearsal. Naomi made a great first impression and I received some wonderful comments from members at the end of the evening. Thanks to Ken for getting everything in place for us to rehearse. We are going to make some changes to improve sound from the microphones this week. We also welcomed 7 people having a taster session. In total there were 61 singers in the chapel and 7 on Zoom. I was thrilled to see so many people there, and, if I’m honest, rather more than I was expecting. Because of this, perhaps the not all of the necessary social distancing, as advised by the government, was possible. I have spent the past few days getting thoughts from your section reps and Exco members, as well as a member who is a doctor.
We are keen that rehearsals should continue. It would be really sad if we had to stop them because of an outbreak of Covid amongst choir members. As a group, we should not be at high risk of contracting Covid, which seems now to be mainly in younger people, or those who have not had any vaccination. But government guidance is clear that if we have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid 19 that we should self isolate for 10 days. Clearly this would be devastating for the choir. Please read the following carefully:
- If possible, complete a lateral flow test in the 24 hours before you attend a rehearsal. Do not come if your test is positive, and follow government advice. These are available from chemists and can be ordered online by clicking the link above.
- We can provide good ventilation in the chapel by having the doors open, and this will reduce risk – it may be a bit cold later in the year!
- When you attend a rehearsal, please wear a mask entering the building, and until you sit down at the very least. This is government advice, and seems to make sense.. Also put on a mask if moving around during the interval and on leaving. If you wish to sing with a mask on that is absolutely fine too.
- As far as is practical, try to maintain a 6 feet distance between you and other choir members. In the pews this means not sitting directly behind another person, and a maximum of 4 or 5 people per pew. We will try this on Wednesday.
- If you do develop symptoms of Covid 19 after you have been to a rehearsal, please inform Jo (depchchair@tonphil.org.uk) or me (chchair@tonphil.org.uk), so that we can assess what risks there might be to the rest of the choir, and what action we should take.
See you on Wednesday,Stewart Dearsley
TPS Choral Chair
