In fact there was a paper in just the last few days showing that voice volume correlated strongly with aerosol particles emitted. That sounds like good advice to me, likewise singing inside a mask. Obviously not singing at all is safer still, but this still seems like it would be effective mitigation.
Even worse than "security theater" precautions are misunderstandings of the threat model. Pandemic mitigation is not a boolean function. Do what you can and choose strategies to sustain suppression, then stop. Find efficiencies where they lie.
In a low-infection-count region, I don't see why you can't sing quietly in a chorus with masks. It's surely safer than eating in a restaurant.
> "It's surely safer than eating in a restaurant."
by saying "safer", without any qualifiers on magnitude, that's making the same mistake. most things we do on a daily basis are safe. being 0.001% less likely to get infected is technically safer, but not practically so.
what's not relatively safe? gathering with random people breathing each other's direct exhaust for long periods.
now, you might think a restaurant is an example of that, but it's not. yes, you'll be sharing exhaust with your tablemates, but you shouldn't be eating with people you don't know/trust in any indoor setting, not just in restaurants. and with just a little precaution (i.e., distance), tables are relatively isolated transmission-wise, despite the general misperception of the risks of aerosol transmission (most people aren't infected, but when they are, virus particles land nearby and fall apart relatively quickly). restaurants aren't particularly unsafe. the same can't be said for bars and clubs, which resist such safety mitigations by their very nature.
also, if singing softer is the only mitigation, rather than distancing with an awareness of vocal exhaust flow, then it isn't really much safer. avoiding extended exposure to natural exhaust is the key, proper distancing being the easiest (and often least inconvenient) and therefore most effective measure.
> by saying "safer", without any qualifiers on magnitude, that's making the same mistake.
Uh.. no it's not. SafER is a comparison, you can compare two quantities without specifying their values.
As far as restaurants: indoor dining is the SINGLE largest transmission vector right now. It's a known risk, there are case studies after case study showing single infections propagating across a whole restaurant. Stay OUT of indoor restaurants anywhere that isn't at a stable and low infection rate. Seriously.
Singing? My guess is that quiet singing with masks is safer than restaurants, yeah. I might be wrong, but it's not because of a logic error.
>I don't see why you can't sing quietly in a chorus with masks
Its possible but it sucks. Sure it risky, anything has risk. I accept that I can be infected or infecting other people. I never stop eat in a restaurant all these time, fortunately some still open.
Even worse than "security theater" precautions are misunderstandings of the threat model. Pandemic mitigation is not a boolean function. Do what you can and choose strategies to sustain suppression, then stop. Find efficiencies where they lie.
In a low-infection-count region, I don't see why you can't sing quietly in a chorus with masks. It's surely safer than eating in a restaurant.