What’s one of the very best ways to spread COVID-19? Singing in a choir. Great! Let’s have a great big choir sing today when Pence is giving a speech. That will put us on the map!

A choir of more than 100 people performed without masks at a robustly attended event in Texas at the First Baptist Church on Sunday that featured a speech by Vice President Mike Pence.

Nearly 2,200 people attended the “Celebrate Freedom Rally,” in the Lone Star State, according to rally organizers, which has seen a severe surge in coronavirus cases since easing restrictions. The venue capacity for the indoor event was close to 3,000 attendees, organizers say.

Throughout the service, the members of the choir sang at full volume, behind an orchestra. Between songs, the choir members put their masks back on when they sat down, according to pool reports from the event. The members of the choir had space between them, but it was not clear if it was the recommended six feet.

Singing at full volume while packed close together – that’s several of the very worst things you can do. I read a thing about it a couple of days ago. Talking loudly is bad, singing is worse.

Face masks at the event were “strongly encouraged,” with signs posted around the venue signaling the suggestion. According to pool reports from the event, at least half of the crowd was wearing a face covering, an act which experts say can reduce the transmission of Covid-19 by as much as 50%.

But the members of the choir are doomed, and they will infect others.

Choir rehearsals and performances became a focal point early in the course of the coronavirus pandemic, with an outbreak within a 122-member choir in Washington state becoming the subject of a in-depth report out of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the report, 87% of singers that attended rehearsal contracted the deadly virus.

It was in Snohomish County, the next county north of here. Two people died.

I wrote a column for The Freethinker about this confusion over contagion and FreeDom.