A big thank you to everyone who took the time to answer our survey about Covid policy preferences! Responses showed roughly equal support for each of the three policy options we outlined, namely 1. continue to require both proof of vaccination and masking, 2. move to mask requirement only, 3. drop all covid precautions. After thoughtful discussion, we decided:

Starting with our July 8th dance we, will no longer require proof of vaccination to attend our dances. Masking, for now, is still required.

As the Covid public health situation changes, and dance community attitudes about personal and community safety evolve, we occasionally reassess our Covid policies. We have noted that the majority of dances in the Northeast no longer require proof of vaccination. Many dances no longer require covid protections of any kind. For us the decision to relax our Covid policies is driven not only by what our community wants, though obviously that is very important, but also by what our own consciences are comfortable with.

Hospitalizations and deaths due to Covid are at their lowest levels since the CDC began collecting statistics, and continue to decline. This fact is largely attributable to the degree of covid resistance in our population as we approach 100% of Americans having antibodies to the virus that causes Covid 19, acquired either through vaccination or exposure to the virus. However, Covid has definitely not gone away, and it remains a frightening health risk to a significant minority of our population. The mechanics of Covid transmission and re-transmission have not changed, nor has the risk that an infection poses to a significant minority of our population. Mask wearing while indoors with more than a few people, using a N95 or equivalent mask that fits tightly to the face, continues to be the most effective protection against both acquiring an infection and transmitting one, short of abstaining from dancing entirely.

These facts lead us to the policy that we have selected. We recognize that reasonable people draw different conclusions, and are grateful that our community is large and diverse enough to accommodate these different viewpoints. We hope that at some point in the not distant future we will feel comfortable expressing our masking policy as “masking wholeheartedly endorsed and supported, but no longer required”, so that we can continue to include those wonderful members of our community for whom masking makes dancing possible. For now though, we look forward to seeing your smiling eyes on the dance floor.

North Berkshire Community Dance: Pat, Doone, Eric, Kate and Nick.