Returning to the dance studio safely (covid-19)

worddancer said:
Can we actually talk about safety measures in the studio and call it a truce and stop with the pandemic shaming?
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Unfortunately one of the things that will be needed for dance studio safety will be some way of enforcing use of masks and other effective measures to prevent spread of the disease:
www.wsj.com

Stores Stress Over How to Handle a Customer Who Won’t Wear a Mask

Retail chains, from CVS to 7-Eleven, are being forced to decide whether and how to enforce rules on masks after a string of attacks on clerks and security guards by patrons who refused to cover their faces.
www.wsj.com www.wsj.com
Just ignoring the issue may be a recipe for reopening dance studios unsafely, rather than safely.
 
There is PDF document on Ohio's COVID-19 website regarding reopening gyms, dance instruction studios and other personal fitness venues. The document covers the following, and includes mandatory and recommended best practices. It's a good read. If anyone wants to read it and can't find the link, send me a PM.

Facilities - covers spacing, capacity and numbers; sanitation, signage and air circulation; these are things that's mostly common sense, like providing proving hand sanitizer, deep cleaning and making sure there is air circulation; also covered was limiting numbers; best practice was to provide foot pedals to open doors or prop open doors to avoid contact

Public rest rooms - clean and sanitize per CDC guidelines

Employees - provide COVID-19 education; encourage employees to take temperatures and conduct self-assessment; wear facial coverings; maintain social distance where practical; wearing gloves is a best practice

Member/clients - check in upon arrival; conduct self-assessment; do not arrive more than 10 minutes before class; maintain social distance except where instruction requires close interaction with instructor; wearing face coverings is a best practice

Confirmed cases - isolate and seek medical care for affected individual; shutdown space for deep sanitation
 
To return to the dance studio safely, we must first effectively manage our own reactions to this "crisis" whatever the beliefs of each individual. This does not include sniping, shaming, or otherwise trolling which I have found to be woefully ineffective at best.

A glance at how other industries are handing transitions to online learning may be helpful. This extremely funny video illustrates how a music teacher has adapted to the online learning experience:

 
Our salsa group is going to begin meeting in public, outdoor spaces, dancing 6 feet away and not changing partners. I won’t go into a studio with poor ventilation and multiple people breathing hard for some time. I would consider having a private lesson if we were alone in the studio. Jiving with a mask is not fun but these times call for compromise.
 
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Personally one of the challenges for returning is the "family" feel of the studio. I know at my current studio, they are saying that they limiting the number of people in the studio. The ladies performance class I am a part of is split, some in the studio and some from home. (Only because some of us are not ready to go back to the studio) However, we all know each other very well and have been in the same class for a couple of years. But when I join by video I see at the studio that no one is wearing a mask. For me that is a no go. I take care of my 85 Mom and can't risk bringing anything to her. Does that familiarity lead to reduced vigilance?

It was my concern back in March when we first started to lock down. My last lesson was a worry, since I knew my teachers wife worked in retail. I am still trying to figure how how to go back. I have quit dancing in the past when it was not "right" to continue, so I am not in a hurry to return.
 
Purr said:
Facilities - covers spacing, capacity and numbers; sanitation, signage and air circulation; these are things that's mostly common sense, like providing proving hand sanitizer, deep cleaning and making sure there is air circulation; also covered was limiting numbers; best practice was to provide foot pedals to open doors or prop open doors to avoid contact
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Circulation is good. But don't forget it's not the same as ventilation. We are going to need both. Think of the difference between a ceiling fan that stirs the air in a room and n exhaust fan that removes air. When I run my oven on self clean, I crack a window and run the exhaust fan to get the stink out. That's ventillation.

There may also be a role for filtration.

Because the disease is new, everyone is working with limited information. But a lot of things are know in general. ASHRAE (American Society for Heating Airconditioning and Ventillation) is working on guidance. You can follow Bill (who hubby and I shared an office with in grad school. He's posting about this issue periodically.)

He has a brief post on his facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bill.bahnfleth/posts/10221435957144870

Anyway: all other things being equal, more ventillation will always reduce concentration of nasties in the air. (It will also increase heating and cooling loads. So that's where the balance comes.)
 
Here's the specific comments regarding air from the document. My take on this - open the doors and get some fresh air circulating in the studio if possible.

Sanitation - "if possible, provide foot pedals to open doors, or prop open doors to avoid contact."

Air Circulation - best practices "limit use of fans; if fan use is necessary, place fans to blow away from members/clients. Open exterior doors when possible. If available and owner has access, open fresh air handlers". There is nothing mandatory for air circulation.
 
Purr said:
Air Circulation - best practices "limit use of fans; if fan use is necessary, place fans to blow away from members/clients. Open exterior doors when possible. If available and owner has access, open fresh air handlers". There is nothing mandatory for air circulation.
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I think this recommendation accurately reflects that ventilation is good, but circulation in the absence of ventilation may be bad.
 
Well Rounded said:
I found out my studio was reopening. I was excited to schedule a lesson until I found out that masks were optional. Even if I was willing to risk myself, I couldn't bring myself to put my housemates at risk. :( Maybe in 2 or 3 weeks, I will reconsider.
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Waiting sounds like a good plan. Is the optional choice for masks for the instructor, student or both?
 
Warren J. Dew said:
I think this recommendation accurately reflects that ventilation is good, but circulation in the absence of ventilation may be bad.
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Yes. Whether circulation is good or bad depends on how it's implemented. Blowing stuff from an infected person directly toward an uninfected on is bad. That's basically what happened in the Wuhan restaurant. There are way it could be designed to help, but it would likely be difficult and it would not surprise me at all if ceiling fans aren't designed to do precisely the wrong thing.

Big fans generally creates what we call 'large scale' motion which has the potential to be quite bad. Smaller scale mixing can be ok because it can dilute a puff of air. Ceiling fans are often desirable for comfort because they create a sort of "wind" feature near occupants which helps make a person feel cool. The air generally is forced down from the fan, and then back up. (I'm putting a CFD image here. The arrows show direction of air from a fan in the center. It goes down below the fan.)
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If the fan works this way, a "sneeze" will tend to be pushed along the streamlines and hit someone before it's diluted by small scale motions. It's likely the opposite of what you want for diluting a sneeze from an infected person. If it was the opposite direction, the sneeze would be diluted in the area above the fan and no individual would be constantly doused. (But the everyone gets a small diluted dose.)

Other than raising cost of heating or cooling to maintain air temperature and humidity in the range you need, ventillation is both more important and more predictable. Filters may be useful-- but it sort of depends. Filters usually filter down to some small size. If it can't filter small enough particles, then they won't help much.
 
Purr said:
Waiting sounds like a good plan. Is the optional choice for masks for the instructor, student or both?
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From what I gather, masks are optional for everyone. They are open for private lessons only. No group classes or social dances.
 
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