Covid-19 Pandemic Standards

These are my personal boundaries as a performer in relation to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Gahlord Dewald :: 1/8/22 :: Mānoa, Hawai‘i

Performance Safety for Everyone

As I write this the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has sent the Covid-19 case numbers in most places of the United States into a near-vertical ascent. While I’m eager to perform with others and bring new sound to audiences in person, I’m not willing to risk my health or the health of communities.

Music and art are very important. These past couple years have demonstrated this repeatedly. But our health needs to come first.

The standards and quality of community care in handling the pandemic appear to be quite variable from place to place. Some places are doing large indoor shows, others are not doing any shows. Some places check for vaccination records and some do not. Testing capabilities in many places seems to be unavaible or slow enough to be ineffective.

With all of this in mind I’m establishing what my personal standardsPlease note that I mean it when I say these are personal standards; I don't expect anyone else to agree with them unless they want me to perform for them. No shade to others who have different standards. are for live performance. I may revise this page as new variants emerge or circumstances change. But given the lack of uniformity in commitments to keep everyone safe I think it’s worthwhile being upfront and clear about it.

I’m setting my guidelines based on data as reported in the New York Times"Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count" New York Times as they consistently report data for each county daily.

Practical outcomes from adopting these standards

There are few things that are obvious here: I probably won’t be playing a ton of shows. I won’t be performing at any bars or restaurants while the coronavirus is spreading.

Using the case count standards outlined above, here are the 2021 dates that I would have been able to perform in a handful of cities:

Graph of days with fewer than 50 Covid-19 cases per day in 2021 for a handful of US Cities
The 2021 dates in which a handful of cities
had fewer than 50 Covid-19 cases per day.

2021 Dates with fewer than 50 cases per day

There are some places with more possibilities for me to perform than others, based on how they have managed the pandemic locally.

Updates and Improvements

I will be updating these standards. For example I will probably introduce some per capita math but haven’t quite determined the best way to do that yet. I do welcome respectful conversation about all of this.