We recognize that significant disagreements remain about what COVID-19 policies make sense for dancing. We have had feedback from some dancers wishing we were less restrictive and from others wishing we were more. Our approach since re-starting the dances in the spring of 2022 has been to slowly relax restrictions. So far, we have not heard of instances where COVID was spread at one of our dances, but it is certainly possible that this will change, in which case we might choose to tighten restrictions again.
As of May 2023, we have eliminated all COVID Protocols at our dances except for contact tracing.
Common Sense Self-Wellness Check
Please stay home if you are not feeling well on the day of the dance. Also, if you become ill and/or test positive for COVID within 7 days of a dance you attended, please send us an email at covidsafety@syracusecountrydancers.org.
Vaccination and Booster
We encourage you to stay up to date with any available vaccinations as a way to protect yourself against illness. However, we no longer require dancers to document that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19. The combination of higher community vaccination levels and protection from prior coronavirus infections means that the virus is less prevalent in the community than it was when we first adopted these protocols. Also, although currently circulating variants are more transmissible than earlier variants, they are less dangerous, especially to people with high levels of antibodies.
Masks
We no longer require masking. We still encourage dancers to wear a high-quality mask if they live or work with vulnerable people, or if doing so would make them feel more comfortable. (We have masks available if you forget.)
Contact Information
When you attend one of our dances, we still collect your email address and phone number. (If we have that information from an earlier dance, you just need to sign in that you are attending.) Then, if we learn that an attendee has become ill, we can contact you so you will know that you might have been exposed.
These protocols were updated May 2023. We continue to update them as conditions change.
If you have any questions about our COVID protocols, please feel free to contact Jennifer at covidsafety@syracusecountrydancers.org.