At the recent Newport Symphony Orchestra series (Jan 17-19) there were at least 6 musicians who came home with COVID. Of those, five additionally infected family members or friends. Those are the ones I know about. There were probably more, but because no one was alerted in a timely way, not everyone tested. When I tested positive (on Friday following the series), I sent out an email to friends and colleagues whose emails I had. Of those, three told me they would not have tested but for reading my email. They thought they just had a cold or allergies.
Unfortunately, NSO did not have a good policy in place to keep musicians informed of exposure. Had we been informed at the Sunday concert (when it was known a musician had tested positive), we could have been much more careful on returning home. Those of us who could mask (strings, percussion, etc) might have masked on and off stage and reduced our risk.
Happily, this event has sparked a much needed conversation between the Orchestra Committee, the Executive Director, the Personnel Managers, and a handful of the musicians. We are working on getting a better policy in place to keep everyone better informed and safer. Hopefully our March series will not be a repeat. Many thanks to all of them for the time and energy, and especially to my Bernadette who always knows when my butt needs kicking.
All of this is to remind you, to remind us all, that COVID is still with us, and people still die from it, though thankfully not in the huge numbers that they had been. Also a reminder that being “fully vaxed” does NOT prevent you from getting sick, or from being contagious. It DOES help keep you stay alive and out of the hospital. Both my wife and I are fully vaxed and yet we both got sick. She is still suffering (over 2 weeks later). Her system does not fight off sickness as well as some of us do.
So PLEASE be careful, be thoughtful, be considerate. Thank you.
Adrian Dee, flutist, composer 