10-3-22 Update:
From speaking with others in the Denver swing community that I respect for their evidence-based approach concerning COVID mitigation policies and data shown HERE, we are waiving the vaccination/immunity requirement for our dance parties. Whereas classes still require mask usage, masks will be optional at our October 5 dance. This is subject to change for our November 2 dance party.
9-28-22 Update:
Due to infection rates, statistics regarding acceptance of second boosters pre-bivalent and bivalent, individual self-reported decision-making, and advice from a respected epidemiologist, we have decided to remove proof of possible immunity from immune-competent individuals for our classes. To stay true to our goals of low to no transmissions, our mask policy does remain in place as our sole COVID transmission control.
Our COVID mitigation policies remain in place for our October 5 dance.
From 7-7-22:
We’ve been receiving more inquiries about our COVID mitigation policies, so I wanted to take a moment here to address what they are, why they exist, and what we look at when evaluating if they might change.
In its simplest form, our policies require that a person either provides one of the following for our indoor happenings:
proof of a booster
proof of being vaccinated with a two-dose regiment (Moderna or Pfizer) within the past 6-8 months
proof of antibody levels > 1,000
One of these three is sufficient. Then we require masks for our classes and encourage masks for our dances. One of our primary goals is to run events, including dances and classes, with low to no transmissions. Because students have to interact with most their fellow students, we require the masks in that environment; whereas at parties dancers can readily decline dances.
Now let’s get into what would make us change our policies whether that is stricter or looser. One great resource is the COVID-19 dial dashboard for Colorado seen HERE. At the time of this blog’s publication, metro Denver counties and Denver are in rough shape with average positivity 12+% and 1 in 42 to 55 Coloradans are infected. The latter statistic comes from Colorado’s modeling team and published here.
Because, based on the June 23 modeling report, Colorado’s numbers had likely peaked, we chose to keep encouraging mask usage at our July 6 dance rather than making them mandatory. Since everyone who enters must be up to date according to CDC guidelines, or slight latecomers to being vaccinated, we felt confident we’d minimize transmission with the controls we have in place.
If we wanted to loosen our policies, we would likely need to the Colorado dial dashboard achieve Green Level and stay there. We’d also need to see better news from the Colorado modeling team. Right now, the new BA variants seem to be highly infectious though less severe than the delta variant. That mix of news makes it harder to forecast policies. What would help is if people eligible to be vaccinated and boosted (while recognizing that some immuno-compromised people are ineligible), would follow those guidelines and help our global community reduce the spread of COVID.