Hi Rosemary, I am not a teacher but I've kept up on some of the relative risks, and the effectiveness of some mitigation steps, and perhaps can offer a few suggestions.
Transmission via touching surfaces appears to be very rare for this virus. If two things were done, everybody could handle everybody else's bobbins with very close to zero risk. 1) Everyone wash their hands thoroughly at the start of class, and again after each time they touch their face or their mask, and 2) after washing their hands, everyone wipe their bobbins at the start of class with a cloth dampened with 90% or higher isopropyl alcohol. (It doesn't have to be dripping nor the bobbins rubbed, so it won't damage any finishes ) Transmission is almost entirely respiratory, either via fine droplets or via aerosols of virus particles. The former are what fall from the air within about 6 feet -- hence the personal distancing -- and are blocked by properly worn masks. The latter, however, the virus particles, don't fall out of the air, and in crowded settings with poor ventilation can become quite concentrated, leading to high rates of transmission. Most masks don't block these particles. The main defense here is ventilation because one's risk of infection is directly related to the size of the dose of virus you get. So you need to dilute the concentration of airborne virus, or blow it away altogether. By far the best thing is to hold your class outside, with fans if there isn't a gentle breeze. The next best would be inside in as big a room as possible, with outside air coming in, and fans preventing pockets of stale air. In those situations, if you both have masks on, it would be safe for both a student and the teacher for one to look over the other's shoulder, etc. Finally, remember, all this is protection just in case you or someone in your class is actually sick with covid. The best protection is for everyone to agree not to come to class if they have a dry cough, trouble breathing, or lose their sense of taste or smell. And take everyone's temperature when they arrive for class -- no one should attend with a temp of 37.5°C or above. In summary, from what I've read recently, ventilation is what's really key. I hope some of this helps. I can dig up a few articles that would cite references if you would like them. Nancy Nancy A. Neff Connecticut, USA On Fri, Aug 14, 2020, 15:31 Rosemary <rjbrow...@virginmedia.com> wrote: > > I am planning how to return to teaching my lace class. > Have any of you returned to teaching in class? Do please share your > experiences of how Covid has changed your practices. > > Rosemary Brown > - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
