24/06/2020
UPDATE for Dance Schools
As you may be aware following a recent review, the Prime Minister yesterday set out that where it is not possible to stay two metres apart, guidance will allow people to keep a social distance of ‘one metre plus’. This means staying one metre apart, plus mitigations which reduce the risk of transmission.
To clarify what cannot open from the 4th of July. The following places will remain closed by law;
Nightclubs and casinos
Bowling alleys and indoor skating rinks
Indoor play areas including soft-play
Spas
Nail bars and beauty salons
Massage, tattoo and piercing parlours
Indoor fitness and dance studios, and indoor gyms and sports venues/facilities
Swimming pools and water parks
Exhibition or conference centres - other than for those who work for that venue.
Dance studios fall within a group of businesses that have an enhanced level of risk due to the nature of the increased respiratory rate which produces an Aerosol type effect of droplets which are proven to have a higher risk of transmission of COVID-19.
As and when Dance Studios are given the green light to re-open it should be noted that working out a studios capacity is not as easy as placing marks 1+ metre apart but have to be based on a formula to allow for the average distance travelled by a dancer under certain conditions and the aerosol 'slipstream' effect. The aerosol effect can be increased or reduced based on whether you are delivering low or high impact classes. As an example, an Under 5's Ballet class would be considered to have a lower transmission risk than your Seniors Modern class, and this would need to be reflected in your studio capacity.
Reducing the social distance to 1+ metres also relies on additional mitigations (or controls) being put in place as clearly outlined in today's guidance. It would generally be impractical to introduce perspex screens between dancers or visors and as such in our environment we would struggle to justify the reduction of social distance to 1+ metre in line with today's guidance. Masks, however, would be a consideration and a mitigation measure that the Government may impose.
When additional guidance is released for the leisure industry (to include dance-based studio-based activity) I will post an update.
It looks like we won't be in the chalk dancing until September at the earliest.
Hope you are all well and staying safe.
Best wishes Hazel
