All Corona related issues

[lucia_l]

I'm genuinely curious - how are they planning to enforce this?

Options then include:

• I imagine they probably already have a database with competitors listed. They can easily have field that indicates "negative covid test".
• The person who calls competitors to to the dance floor could have an indication of who is allowed to unmask next to each name. They could look to see if they are masked or unmasked and pull violators off the floor. (They could also then eject the violators to make the risk of violation large.)
• For leads, they could have a different colored number banner on back add a horizontal stripe. They could print them with a different color to indicate lead is permitted no mask vs follow. (They could have a different color to indicate not tested.)
• As you suggested, they could wear a wrist band.

These are not either/or and I'm sure other options exist. So I think the rule will be fairly easy to enforce.

Honestly, I think if you take the test and fail, you should not be allowed to compete or dance. You and your partner would get your fee back. Of course, you'd still be stuck with transportation costs and possibly hotel. This policy would be severe. For pros a positive test would be a huge hit both because getting to compete is so important to them. It also would affect all their AMS. OTOH: their being infectious could expose all their AMs even with masks. I doubt it would be implemented unless the local authorities required it.

 

[Brummbaer]

I'm genuinely curious - how are they planning to enforce this? With so many people coming off and on the floor for various heats. Or do you get one of those bracelets if you test negative, like what they give out at concerts/events to show you're over 21 and can buy alcohol?

Seems to be what they did at this Tango festival as described on this forum here

Or here for the external link.

Nevertheless the participation risk is related to infections in the locale - and I think they just scraped by before renewed lockdown.

 

[Brummbaer]

Ohio is requiring proof of a negative test for those who wish to dance without masks. Otherwise, you will have to dance with a mask.

Just curious - how is a negative test validated? There have been discussions about a phone-app to indicate 'not-infected-at-time-of-test', or ''have-Covid-19-antibodies", but paper, even with wet signature, is pretty meaningless in this context and these days (maybe a hologram is good enough).

And, of course, there's the questions of time and contacts since the test.

Depends how much you trust people, but I wouldn't trust some desperate dancer not to turn up with a forgery.

 

[IndyLady]

@lucia_l - All great points, it occurred to me this morning that of course the deck captains have heat lists that they could reference for this purpose.

Depends how much you trust people, but I wouldn't trust some desperate dancer not to turn up with a forgery.

Yeah, I don't trust people (or trust everyone, I should say). My question was not intended to be underhanded in any way - I was the quintessential "good girl" growing up who dutifully followed all the rules (my rebellious streak is generally applied within the letter of the law), and one of the great dismays of adulthood has been the realization of how often rules get broken - often brazenly and unapologetically - and there are no consequences. So I've become more accutely attuned to compliance issues, now that I'm not as naive to expect that all rules will be followed and enforced. Hence my interest in how it will really play out (not just here, but for potentially other competitions).

 

[Brummbaer]

Hence my interest in how it will really play out (not just here, but for potentially other competitions).

It all depends whether they really try to achieve the objective of the rules, or are desperate to find a way round them. And of course there's the little issue of whether the rules even achieve the objective of making participants sufficiently safe.

 

[IndyLady]

I've been attending practice parties a couple times a week at two of the studio locations. For one of them, a new public health order has been issued that will apply to them. Indoor social gatherings limited to 10 people (among other fairly broad sweeping provisions, which I won't quote here). Of course this will be impossible to enforce in private household situations, but for commercial businesses, I'm thinking those practice parties are about to get very small.

Another nearby studio (not mine, and not in the aforementioned jurisdiction) cancelled their upcoming Saturday party this weekend. We're seeing significant upticks in cases and prevalence here (duh, but just putting that out there for context) so I anticipate more of this to come.

 

[mnldoc]

So, as it turns out, Ohio is requiring everyone to show a certification of negative COVID testing upon check-in. It is not optional. There will be a doctor on-site who will be able to perform rapid antigen tests for those who arrive without certification. It is at King's Ball where testing is required only for those who wish to dance without masks.

Looking at the final schedule for Ohio, there is a scheduled first round for Professional Smooth, and QFs for Professional Rhythm, Latin and Standard (same as last year). So pro-am attendance may be down, but looks like the pros will be showing up.

 

[lucia_l]

mnldoc,
I'm glad to hear everyone at Ohio is being tested! I support masks, but that should reduce risk a lot more than just masks.

 

[fascination]

very sad...but not as sad as it would be if the event were to happen and be linked to an outbreak....I enjoyed OSB every time I went and I pray that next year will be a glorious one for them

 

[lucia_l]

Very sad.

I guess I'm glad the cancellation happened before most competitors flew in. That minimizes exposure and likely some pout of pocket costs for them. I suspect vendors, organizers and some others got walloped by the timing of the cancellation. Such an awful year. sigh. . .

 

[Warren J. Dew]

very sad...but not as sad as it would be if the event were to happen and be linked to an outbreak

Matter of opinion. If the event had happened and a couple people got covid there, that's not worse than the event not happening and a couple of people getting covid at home, which given the number of people that attend the Ohio Star Ball would likely be expected.

The resurgence of covid across the northern hemisphere just as fall temperatures get down to where spring temperatures were when the disease started receding back then suggests that lockdowns were not the main factor in the end of the spring outbreak.

 

[Brummbaer]

The resurgence of covid across the northern hemisphere just as fall temperatures get down to where spring temperatures were when the disease started receding back then suggests that lockdowns were not the main factor in the end of the spring outbreak

I think you're missing the outbreaks in Iran, Pakistan and India

 

[ProgressNotPerfection]

some pout of pocket costs

(presumably just a typo, but ironic nonetheless)

 

[fascination]

Matter of opinion. If the event had happened and a couple people got covid there, that's not worse than the event not happening and a couple of people getting covid at home, which given the number of people that attend the Ohio Star Ball would likely be expected.

The resurgence of covid across the northern hemisphere just as fall temperatures get down to where spring temperatures were when the disease started receding back then suggests that lockdowns were not the main factor in the end of the spring outbreak.

fair point....if it was a minor outbreak...that said, if numerous people took ill (and some gravely ill) it would very unfortunate ...that is my only point...I truly empathize with the disappointment and lost revenue...

 

[bry_dancer]

I was all set to go but almost cancelled a few times because the timing is really unfortunate with covid counts spiking everywhere. My wife didn't really want me to go because she's a small biz owner whose biz may be shut down due to covid and felt that trips and gatherings like this were the reason that covid was spreading. From a social responsibility perspective I also had a hard time justifying the trip even though I truly wanted to support my dance family and we had worked really hard to be ready for all 9 dances. In fact our final rounds felt so good that I made the decision to go ahead with the trip.

When I saw the announcement last week from the Ohio governor I thought for sure it would be cancelled, but somehow it wasn't. I kept thinking that if I was not in the dance world and saw someone else doing a trip like this I would've thought they were crazy. But when I discussed it with any of my local dance friends they all seemed to think it was fine and many were going (including all 7 of the pros from our studio). Weird how group dynamics work and a tough situation all around with no easy answers!