Virus in the Ballroom – Part 2

Subtitle – why we can’t have nice things in 2020

One additional person from the studio has tested positive. For lots of reason, I’m not going to disclose more than that. I got that news on the phone today since I have a lesson tonight and missed all of last week.

The good news is that several others have been tested and come back negative – like me. So it seems Showcase was not a super spreader event which is good news for the studio. They are cancelling parties for the immediate future and there will probably be fewer people in the studio but, other than that, life goes on.

The other bit of very good news is that the two who tested positive are basically asymptomatic so no real worries there.

I do want to stress that the studio has been very good at following all the rules. During Showcase, all the instructors made sure to sanitize between heats if they were changing partners. Masks have been required for everything and were worn by everyone during Showcase. And surfaces are constantly wiped down. The fact that this didn’t spread I think speaks to the work they did.

The thing that is unavoidable is that ballroom carries with it risks that other activities may not. You could try the no-contact lessons but that isn’t as effective and, even then, you are still in relatively close proximity to another person for an extended period of time. And instructors are going to cycle through lots of students over a week so they are exposed to all kinds of stuff. Masks aren’t magic and they don’t stop everything.

Clearly, the safest thing to do would be to just not dance. For some people, that may be the right decision. I just don’t want to completely give in to the fear. The thing about life is there are no guarantees. You might say we can sit out until it becomes “safe” again but you never know what curve balls are going to get tossed your way. Life is not risk free.

So you take the steps you can to reduce the risk and you go on living. Dancing is part of my life and so I plan to be at the studio tonight and going forward.