Update on efforts to restart dancing

We’re not there yet, but we will dance again.

None of us imagined in the early spring of 2020 that our dances would be closed so long, nor that there would be so many difficult questions associated with reopening. As I write this in mid-August of 2021, the Delta variant is dramatically changing the scientific consensus of what constitutes safe behavior around COVID-19. The Delta variant is more contagious than previous variants, not just to the unvaccinated, but to a much larger number of vaccinated people than had been seen with the earlier variants. Outdoor activities had been considered largely safe, but there have been recent superspreader outdoor events that were open only to the vaccinated and the recently tested.

One factor that remains useful is the community transmission rate, which gives an indication of how present the virus is in our area, and how likely it is to walk into one of our dances. Right now it’s very high here, and worse, is on the upward side of a surge, making dancing risky even for the vaccinated. The Board of Directors of the Sacramento Country Dance Society is very closely monitoring developments in the pandemic, while studying the conditions under which we could reopen for vaccinated dancers and the conditions necessary to safely invite all dancers. Please watch this space as the situation develops. We’re hoping to have better news once the current surge passes.

Martin Lodahl
SCDS Board President