Singing is not riskier than talking when it comes to the risk of spreading the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), but volume matters.

British scientists found that singing does not produce more respiratory particles than talking at a similar volume, reported BBC.

The number of particles will depend on how loud a person is singing or talking, as per the initial findings.

The project is called Perform. It looked into the amount of aerosols and droplets produced by singers, a concern on safety since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed.

COVID-19 hit performance workers hard, as their livelihood was put to a halt to prevent the spread of the disease.

Yahoo Style UK noted that even in theaters' confined layouts, singing was flagged as a health risk during the early days of the pandemic. Amateur choirs were linked to clusters of virus cases.

Conducting the Study

Scientists at the University of Bristol led the research. Twenty-five performers of various genders, ages, ethnicities, and musical backgrounds took part in the study.

Each of them went through a range of exercises. One of the activities they had to do was singing and speaking 'Happy Birthday' at different pitches and volumes.

The participants were also asked to do the breathing, speaking, coughing, and singing exercises reported The Independent.

They completed the exercises in an operating theater where there were no other aerosols. The set-up allowed researchers to study the aerosols produced by specific sounds.

Aerosol Production in Singing and Talking

Aerosols are small particles that people emit from their bodies and float in the air. There has been emerging evidence that COVID-19 can spread through these particles.

Droplets that fall onto high-touch surfaces will also fuel the spread of the virus.

According to the study, aerosol production's largest impact was from the volume of a person's voice.

In the study, they found little difference between talking and singing at the same level. But singing and shouting at the loudest sound level created 30 times more aerosols.

They also found little differences in aerosol production among genders and music genres. Some of the genres they considered were choral, musical theatre, opera, choral, jazz, gospel, rock, and pop.

In a Reuters article, Jonathan Reid of the ESPRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Aerosol Science said that transmitting viruses when someone sings or speaks was "equally possible." He stressed their initial findings, where both activities generated the same number of particles.

Reid is hopeful that their study can provide a scientific basis for COVID-19 rules and recommendations for performance venues to operate safely. He said performers and audience members could be kept safe in spaces that are properly ventilated.

Having proper ventilation will lower the risk of airborne transmission in these kinds of places, he said.

Concerns for Singers

For people who constantly use their voice for a living, the risks of COVID-19 could significantly affect their careers.

Performers will be left with four options when it comes to the virus: avoiding infection, contracting and recovering unharmed, contracting and dying, and contracting and living with its career-altering effects.

A Journal of Voice article noted that musicians have found it difficult to play their instrument after injury. The journal authors said having COVID-19 as a performer could seem "worse than dying itself."

Singers have a "Let's just get it and get over it" attitude towards the virus, the authors said. But the virus could infect anyone of any age.

Meanwhile, Dr. Julian Tang of the University of Leicester said the singing effects might be amplified if the choir dynamic is considered.

Tang added that the University of Bristol study has to assess all at once the risk of large groups of people singing.

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