The need to incorporate health precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 has significantly disrupted the performing arts, ranging from musicians playing instruments to actors rehearsing and performing on stage.

While many performances and festivals have shifted to online platforms, super-spreader events taking place involving choirs in various parts of the world, including in Washington state and Germany, have prompted guidelines on health measures. For instance, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control had issued guidelines for choirs, stating that singing should be conducted outdoors with 50 people or less with physical distancing and other precautions in place.

An upcoming presentation can help those in the performing arts to understand how to implement health measures in order to minimize risk of transmission, and it may be of interest to those in environmental and public health fields in developing health recommendations and guidance.

As part of a health seminar series, the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health (NCCEH) is presenting a free webinar featuring speaker Dr. Juliette O’Keefe from noon to 1 p.m. on September 30.

O’Keefe is an environmental health knowledge translation scientist who is part of the NCCEH team at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.

This online session will take a look at the risks in the performing arts and what precautions can be taken in a variety of settings. A short Q&A period will follow the presentation. To register for the webinar, visit this webpage.