Californians are temporarily banned from singing in churches as part of an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
The state’s Department of Public Health issued an update to its COVID-19 guidelines Wednesday that gave new instructions to all places of worship as cases in the state spike.
“Activities such as singing and chanting negate the risk reduction achieved through six feet of physical distancing,” the guidelines say. “Places of worship must therefore discontinue singing and chanting activities and limit indoor attendance to 25% of building capacity or a maximum of 100 attendees, whichever is lower.”
The guidance also urges places of worship to “continue to facilitate remote services and other related activities for those who are vulnerable to COVID-19 including older adults and those with co-morbidities.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that singing can be an activity that may increase COVID-19 risk because of its potential to transmit disease particles through the air.
“This outbreak of COVID-19 with a high secondary attack rate indicates that SARS-CoV-2 might be highly transmissible in certain settings, including group singing events,” the CDC website says.
Coronavirus outbreaks have been linked to choir rehearsals and church services in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, and South Korea, in addition to the United States, according to the New York Times.
One of Sacramento’s biggest churches, Capital Christian Center, said it had not reviewed the updated state guidelines but will adhere to the order.
“We recognize that singing is a challenge,” Jason Batt, the church’s chief operating officer, told the Sacramento Bee.
Churches were among the most aggressive institutions that pushed back on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s initial stay-at-home order, suing the Democrat’s administration in an effort to overturn the order which banned religious gatherings. Lawsuits argued the order violated their First Amendment rights. Houses of worship were given guidelines on reopening in late May that strongly urged them to “consider discontinuing singing, group recitation, and other practices and performances.”
There have been more than 2.8 million cases of the coronavirus in the United States, and more than 130,000 people who became infected have died. In California, there have been nearly a quarter million cases, and more than 6,100 fatalities have been tied to the coronavirus.
Recent spikes, largely in the South, have prompted state and local officials to halt plans to reopen their economies and enforce new restrictions meant to curb the spread of the virus.
“California is seeing the virus spreading at alarming rates in many parts of the state, and we are taking immediate action to slow the spread of the virus in those areas,” Newsom said this week as he ordered many businesses to move their operations outside. “We bent the curve in the state of California once, and we will bend the curve again. But we’re going to have to be tougher, and that’s why we are taking this action today.”
