My experience going through COVID just months after returning to church choir.

After returning to church and singing in the choir after three years of being away, what I was trying to avoid happened, I got COVID.

For some background, I’ve been singing in my Catholic Church’s choir here in Merced, California since the mid-2000s.

I took a year off sometime in the 2010s and then stepped away from my church choir in the middle of the pandemic.

I returned to my church choir in March, 2024, just before Easter, and, for the better part of four months, I attended practices and sang at church masses on the weekend

I knew COVID was still out there but, seeing how the only times I was unmasked was during choir practices and mass itself, I thought my chances were slim that I’d get COVID again.

That was short-lived.

Tesing positive for COVID in June.

On June 15 I sang at a funeral and cantored at our Vigil Mass. Then, on the 16th, I sang at morning Sunday mass.

I woke up on Monday the 17th with a tickle in my throat. Using one of the COVID tests I stockpiled, I tested and was positive for COVID.

Although I’m low-risk, I started Paxlovid the next day.

It’s noteworthy I was fully vaccinated with two shots in 2021 and got a booster in March before returning to choir.

Thankfully, I’m largely asymptomatic with no fever, hard of breathing, or any major symptoms.

I did lose half of my smell and about 1/5th of my taste on Day 5.

It’s now 8 days since I tested positive and have been self-isolating this entire time.

I’ve completed Paxlovid and, as of testing today, I’m still testing positive.

Based on other’s experiences on Paxlovid from a Reddit thread, it seems I should be testing negative very soon.

My thoughts on returning to the choir when I eventually test negative.

I have mixed feelings about returning to the choir.

On one hand, God’s given me the gift of singing so, using my abilities for his glory seems right.

On the other hand, re COVID, my choir does absolutely nothing to address or mitigate COVID, and, I don’t blame them.

I feel like I should bring up risk mitigation strategies like investing in an air purifier for using during rehearsals.

It only took four months of singing for me to get COVID, I can’t see myself singing in the choir if I get sick, God forbid, for a third time by year’s end.

COVID is a virus that the scientific community still knows little about.

To add to that, the instances of Long COVID cannot be discounted.

If COVID was like the common cold and it only took me out for a week or two before I returned to full health, I wouldn’t mind returning to choir despite getting sick.

But, it’s what we don’t know about COVID’s long-term effects including how it can wreck your immune and respiratory system, manifests in dozens of ways, and can result in a debilitating, long-term way that has me concerned.

I wish there was guidance and best practices for church choirs to mitigate the risks that come with singing for multiple hours a week in close quarters to our fellow singers.

To go on as it is, risking getting COVID in a church choir that’s already several members fewer than what it used to be pre-COVID seems foolhardy.

Because, as mentioned, if COVID becomes an issue for me again and my being a singer is to blame, I will seriously think about returning.