A hard decision

 In France we can sing together, on condition that we be masked and keep our distance. So we sing in church and in choirs.

However there is some discussion about the utility and even the danger of masks. In one choir there was a full and frank email discussion about the dangers to the brain of a build-up of carbon dioxide and the toxins that we naturally exhale. I weighed in applying my training in biology and the observation that surgeons regularly work for hours masked with no ill effects to their brains - and we entrust our lives to their skill. This may not have been wise on my part. Enough said. But we sing masked.

In the choir I usually sing with I was sat about halfway to the back and noticed at least four people singing but with the mask below the nose. Had I been at the front of the room singing I would not have noticed them at all, of course. Conducting I may have sene more.

I'm not that afraid of catching the virus. But I am very keen to avoid generating a cluster of infections focused on the church. And if I catch the virus then who knows how many people we might infect before my symptoms showed up.

So, with a heavy heart, and after a sleepless night,  I have to drop that choir until further notice.

I explained the problem to one of the committee members, but left without further fuss.