A choir decided to go ahead with rehearsal. Now dozens of members have COVID-19 and two are dead

LA Times via MSN ^ | March 29 2020 | Richard Read

[rintintin]

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — With the coronavirus quickly spreading in Washington state in early March, leaders of the Skagit Valley Chorale debated whether to go ahead with weekly rehearsal.

The virus was already killing people in the Seattle area, about an hour’s drive to the south.

But Skagit County hadn’t reported any cases, schools and business remained open, and prohibitions on large gatherings had yet to be announced.

On March 6, Adam Burdick, the choir’s conductor, informed the 121 members in an email that amid the “stress and strain of concerns about the virus,” practice would proceed as scheduled at Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church.

“I’m planning on being there this Tuesday March 10, and hoping many of you will be, too,” he wrote.

Sixty singers showed up. A greeter offered hand sanitizer at the door, and members refrained from the usual hugs and handshakes.

“It seemed like a normal rehearsal, except that choirs are huggy places,” Burdick recalled. “We were making music and trying to keep a certain distance between each other.”

After 2 1/2 hours, the singers parted ways at 9 p.m.

Nearly three weeks later, 45 have been diagnosed with COVID-19 or ill with the symptoms, at least three have been hospitalized, and two are dead.

[Elsie]

Then I’m NOT a geezer!!!

(yet)

[Elsie]

Grey-Haired Brigade

 

 

They like to refer to us as senior citizens, old fogies, geezers, and in some cases dinosaurs. Some of us are "Baby Boomers" getting ready to retire. Others have been retired for some time. We walk a little slower these days and our eyes and hearing are not what they once were. We have worked hard, raised our children, worshiped our God and grown old together. Yes, we are the ones some refer to as being over the hill, and that is probably true. But before writing us off completely, there are a few things that need to be taken into consideration.

 

In school we studied English, history, math, and science which enabled us to lead America into the technological age. Most of us remember what outhouses were, many of us with firsthand experience. We remember the days of telephone party-lines, 25 cent gasoline, and milk and ice being delivered to our homes. For those of you who don't know what an icebox is, today they are electric and referred to as refrigerators. A few even remember when cars were started with a crank. Yes, we lived those days.

 

We are probably considered old fashioned and out-dated by many. But there are a few things you need to remember before completely writing us off.

 

We won World War II, fought in Korea and Viet Nam. We can quote The Pledge of Allegiance, and know where to place our hand while doing so. We wore the uniform of our country with pride and lost many friends on the battlefield. We didn't fight for the Socialist States of America, we fought for the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave." We wore different uniforms but carried the same flag. We know the words to the Star Spangled Banner, America, and America the Beautiful by heart, and you may even see some tears running down our cheeks as we sing. We have lived what many of you have only read about in history books and we feel no obligation to apologize to anyone for America.

 

Yes, we are old and slow these days but rest assured, we have at least one good fight left in us. We have loved this country, fought for it, and died for it, and now we are going to save it. It is our country and nobody is going to take it away from us. We took oaths to defend America against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and that is an oath we plan to keep. There are those who want to destroy this land we love but, like our founders, there is no way we are going to remain silent.

 

It was mostly the young people of this nation who elected Obama and the Democratic Congress. You fell for the "Hope and Change" which in reality was nothing but "Hype and Lies." You have tasted socialism and seen evil face to face, and have found you don't like it after all. You make a lot of noise, but most are all too interested in their careers or "Climbing the
Social Ladder" to be involved in such mundane things as patriotism and voting. Many of those who fell for the "Great Lie" in 2008 are now having buyer's remorse. With all the education we gave you, you didn't have sense enough to see through the lies and instead drank the 'Cool-Aid.' Now you're paying the price and complaining about it. No jobs, lost mortgages, higher taxes, and less freedom. This is what you voted for and this is what you got. We entrusted you with the Torch of Liberty and you traded it for a paycheck and a
fancy house.

 

Well, don't worry youngsters, the Grey-Haired Brigade is here, and in 2012 we are going to take back our nation. We may drive a little slower than you would like but we get where we're going, and in 2012 we're going to the polls by the millions. This land does not belong to the man in the White House nor to the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. It belongs to "We the People" and "We the People" plan to reclaim our land and our freedom. We hope this time you will do a better job of preserving it and passing it along to our grandchildren. So the next time you have the chance to say the Pledge of Allegiance, Stand up, put your hand over your heart, honor our country, and thank God for the old geezers of the "Grey-Haired Brigade."

 

Author, Anon.

Grey-Haired Brigade Member

 

Footnote:

 

I am another Gray-Haired Geezer signing on.

I will circulate this to other Gray-Haired Geezers all over this once great county.

Can you feel the ground shaking???

It's not an earthquake, it is a STAMPEDE.

With Gods help, we will make this country great again!!!!

[lepton]

Yes, those who are the least healthy and the oldest among us are at most risk, but this virus absolutely, unequivocally, kills young people - and it does it in a horrible way. I spent part of the day today looking at the labs and radiological data of a patient who is barely over 30, with NO preconditions, who is dying of Covid. First of all, when you first present, your chest X-ray and lab data can all be absolutely normal. The progression, however, is horrible. Pretty much my whole adult life to this point has been focused professionally on medicine, and I’ve seen a lot of things over the years.

---

So, based upon what you’ve been seeing in COVID victims, is there any chance we had millions of infected last November, December, or January? That it would have been wholly missed and mistaken for a normal flu?

[Mom MD]

and the proof they were infected at choir practice?

[Elsie]

Not in England

Just the church...

[Elsie]

Kinda like Sheldon and his remote presence.

Altos that stare at goats.

[Elsie]

...in other words, ... Free Time!

[Elsie]

I am an old geezer at 72..

NO!!

You are a YOUNG one!

[CodeToad]

How does anyone know they didn’t get it from many other possible places?

Just more gaslighting that “gatherings” are deadly.

Nonsense.

[Elsie]

A geezer, codger and a coot walked into a bar.

The codger asked the barkeep, “Which is older? A geezer, a codger, or a coot?”

[Elsie]

Don’t walk in their slipstream.

[Elsie]

With 121 choir members; there could NOT be very many left in the congregation to HEAR them!

[rintintin]

Not in England
Just the church.

I wasn’t talking about the church. Choral music is very popular in England, including among young people

[Rebelbase]

” Tomorrow, we’ll try a practice using the ‘Zoom’ app.”

A relative’s company uses zoom for remote meetings and said that the quality has diminished since the stay-at-home orders have been implemented.

[Elsie]

we missed 2012; but sure nailed 2016!!

[Elsie]

ok

[Elsie]

Clone it and call it ZoomForBoomers.

That should lessen the load on the code.

[A Formerly Proud Canadian]

It can be set to view all participants, I believe, rather than just one. With 30-40 of our 50+ members participating, it will be interesting. While we won’t ‘break the internet’, we may ‘break’ Zoom! Hope not.

[The Truth Will Make You Free]

May have been stupid, but it may prove human-to-human airborne spread is possible. We don’t know if there could have been significant manual spread by door handles, refreshments, musical score sheets, etc. It seems like a reasonable assessment that singers would produce more airborne particles and also inhale them more deeply into the lungs.

The 50% asymptotic theory is also disproven with this older group where 75% (45/60) showed symptoms, although the small size could be an otherwise explainable result. It would be extremely useful for the other 15 to get tested to see if they are carriers or asymptotic. With singer “spray” and deep breaths, if the transmission were airborne, you’d think ALL were similarly exposed.

[Wuli]

“A key aspect of this is that the infected singer, belting out vocals, likely ejected massive amounts of contaminated droplets and aerosol into the room’s air. The other singers, mouths open, were inhaling it all. Perfect storm.”

A good bet. And I just bet the initial infected person was not feeling totally good at the time; maybe just thought they had the sniffles or a slightly sore throat, putting it off as the usual seasonal cold.

If those who are ill kept to rules about THEM isolating and avoiding everyone else, religiously and consistently, we would not reach situations where all the healthy are isolated from each other, by force of law.