The coronavirus has taken the world by storm as many businesses have had to close their doors on a temporary or permanent basis. The effects of lockdowns and social distancing have been acutely felt by the music industry in particular. The rules and regulations put in place have made it impossible for people to gather to see bands and many venues have had to shut their doors during the pandemic.

Now that cases are beginning to decline, some clubs are getting the green light to reopen. But the question is, what will these clubs be doing to keep their employees and patrons safe? What are they doing to try to counter the bleak predictions of a stronger wave set to come due to businesses reopening without taking the proper precautions? Read on to find out.

Smaller Music Venues

As businesses are starting to reopen, many smaller venues are being given the green light to start hosting live music. Ohio is one of the first states to get the okay. They kicked things off a couple of weeks ago with some success.

The rules in place were as follows:

• The bar must follow social distancing rules when serving patrons. They must also do their best to stay distanced from fellow employees. Screens have been erected in many venues at bar areas to contain the spread of germs.
• Performers must also keep to social distancing guidelines staying six feet away from patrons as well as their band mates.
• Only parties that arrive together can sit together and tables are positioned six feet apart from one another.

Ohio’s reopening weekend was met with much success and patrons, employees and performers reported feeling very comfortable with the new normal. Club owners are committed to moving forward slowly adding limited live music nights to their rosters and seeing how things go from there.

Larger Music Venues

Social distancing is more of a challenge at larger venues. The Temple in Arkansas is one venue that had a go at it hosting a Travis McCready show on May 18.

Only 200 fans were let in to the normally 1100 capacity venue. Groups were asked to sit in clusters with the people they came with and were seated six feet apart form other groups.  The facility was well sanitized, masks were worn and temperatures were taken at the door.

Although the event went as planned, the limited capacity meant the venue didn’t make any money off the evening. They hosted it because they wanted to do something nice for the community. However, this presents a problem for larger venues who need to host full capacity shows to make money.

The music industry will definitely face challenges as things start to reopen, but the progress made so far is a step in the right direction. It is hopeful that things will continue to move forward in a positive manner.

Best Darn Brands was formed at the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak in the US with one purpose in mind:  to supply personal protective equipment to help abate the transmission of the virus . During a period when governments, manufacturers and suppliers were all facing the problem of getting PPE supplies and supporting medical equipment to people who need it, BDB started moving the obstacles in the path of supply. Best Darn Brands has setup its operations in such a way that these obstacles can be tackled and solutions can be delivered. If the majority of companies throughout the supply chain continue to remain shut, the already eminent damage will multiply exponentially. 

Companies trying to provide medical supplies are facing difficulties because their usual and customary procurement practices historically depended on one or two suppliers to cater to their demand. Currently demand far exceeds supply causing end users to become creative and more aggressive in their procurement practices.  In the past, if a manufacturer cannot accommodate an order for any reason, the end user went without until their favorite supplier replenished their stock and shipped to them.  These days the loyalty is gone and if a product is out of stock, procurement personnel are spending 100’s of hours of valuable time looking for an alternative and usually coming up empty.   

Best Darn Brands tackles this matter by keeping a variety of FDA-approved suppliers for the same product that  are geographically distanced to minimize the possibility of suffering from a supply block due to regional problems.

In case a supplier is unable to deliver at full capacity, Best Darn Brands can source product from a multitude of other sources to fulfill demand, and keep availability consistent.

Best Darn Brands has FDA-approved partner facilities for production and supply setup across the US. With this expansive approach, BDB is able to deliver supplies regionally in a timely fashion.  This  multifaceted approach gives BDB the ability to continue operations even if one particular facility is inactive.

Individually one facility cannot bear the burden of the entire market, but collectively through partnerships and affiliations well placed companies, BDB can cope with downtime in one or more locations. Particular areas may also require particular products. Having one facility catering only to one region also makes it possible to specialize in the demand of that region.

Best Darn Brands has developed contingency plans for the worst possible scenario. Even though some possibilities may seem farfetched, they are still possible. In the case that this pandemic worsens and goes to lengths which are currently unimaginable, BDB will already have a plan in place for that situation.

BDB strategy is about hoping for the best and planning for the worst.  It has been seen in many cases, in places even where supplies were abundant, there was trouble in the supply chain because organizations had no internal preparation. They had not forecasted potential problems that could occur and had not developed solutions to implement in such a scenario.

Best Darn Brands works as a single entity from top to bottom utilizing a widespread and diverse  internal and external structure. Working hand in hand with partner organizations, end users and suppliers who are in this battle against Covid-19 makes victory in the fight against this pandemic possible for everyone.

Over the last week, there have been an ongoing series of riots and protests against Police Brutality in the United States. The movement originated in Minnesota and then spread to over four hundred cities and towns in all fifty states, after a video of George Floyd’s encounter with the police, and eventual death, went viral on the Internet. 

The protests being attended by thousands of people begs the question: are COVID-19 cases in the US about to see a spike? Are the protests about to be “super-spreader” events for the Coronavirus?

There’s no immediate answer, as the virus has a long incubation period, and most people will not fall ill immediately. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Protests and large gatherings make it difficult to maintain our recommended social-distancing guidelines and may put others at risk. It’s too early to know what, if any, effect these events will have on the federal COVID-19 response.”

Scientists are still not fully clear about how the virus spreads between people outdoors. We do know that there was a super-spreader event at an Italian soccer match in February this year. Many of the protestors could be asymptomatic carriers – which makes the situation even more complicated. However, the dangers of not practising social distancing can not be avoided. Public health officials have repeatedly voiced the concern that protests can potentially accelerate the speed of transmission.

Wearing A Mask Doesn’t Solve The Problem:

Although wearing a face mask does effectively reduce chances of infection/transmission, it does not solve the problem altogether. There are several other ways in which the protestors can pass the virus along – proximity being the main factor. Anytime an individual is within close proximity to someone who is already infected, they’re likely to spread it through aerosolized droplets.

Another factor that can potentially increase transmission is tear gas. Tear gas has been used by the police to disperse protestors in many of the protests. Being exposed to tear gas can lead to sneezing and coughing – hence spreading respiratory droplets.

How To Protect Yourself And Those Around You

The threat of infection hasn’t deterred demonstrators from attending protests. It’s important that they take the following measures to protect themselves from being infected:

• Wear a face covering
• Stay at least 6 feet from other groups
• Stick to a small group if possible
• Use hand sanitizer at regular intervals
• Wear eye protection to prevent injury
• Yelling can spread droplets: use signs & noise makers instead
• Stay hydrated!

These cautionary measures won’t reduce the risk to zero, but will certainly help minimize harm to everyone attending the protests.

A public service announcement from www.BestDarnBrands.com.

Best Darn Brands (BDB) was created to foster our mission of “

understanding the protection levels of masks is important for everyone. Sorting fact from fiction

supplying front-line heroes with

the necessary equipment to perform jobs that are critical to keeping the fabric of American society

safe, healthy & secure”. Taking pride in marketing FDA certified masks, BDB feels that

is only possible if the general public understand that a homemade or medical mask can only

provide a level of protection that is relatively low compared with single -use surgical masks and

N95 specialty masks [3] protection. Although, the N95 masks are, for the most part, earmarked

for healthcare workers, including clinical, paramedical, and allied health staff who are dealing with

COVID-19 daily, they are becoming available to the general public. Wearing a better quality clean

mask is recommended for everyone consciously protecting themselves and others from this deadly

virus. In certain countries, wearing a mask is mandatory. Of course, BDB is hopeful that everyone

is fulfilling their social responsibility of protecting others as well as staying safe themselves. All

this is possible only if everyone wearing a mask.

People tend to argue about empirical evidence related to the benefits of wearing masks for staying

safe from coronavirus infection. Scientific studies strongly suggest that surgical masks

significantly reduce shedding of viral particles by an infected person and could be considered as

the best public health practice for preventing transmission of coronaviruses [4]. Now the question

arises, should everyone be wearing a surgical mask? The best answer is YES. The SARS-CoV2,

the causative infectious particle, does not create disease conditions in everyone infected. Almost

30 -35 % of individuals stay asymptomatic. These individuals are mainly responsible for the

transmission of COVID-19 causing the virus to spread to many around them. Staying safe from

the current pandemic by wearing a mask needs to be considered our social new normal for

everyone.

References

1. WHO, Naming the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the virus that causes it. https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical- guidance/naming-the-coronavirus-disease-(covid-2019)-and-the-virus-that-causes-it, 2020.
2. MacIntyre, C.R. and A.A. Chughtai, Facemasks for the prevention of infection in healthcare and community settings. BMJ, 2015. 350: p. h694. https://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.h694
3. Azap, A. and F.S. Erdinc, Medical mask or N95 respirator: When and how to use? Turk J Med Sci, 2020. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32336079/
4. Leung, N.H.L., et al., Respiratory virus shedding in exhaled breath and efficacy of face masks. Nat Med, 2020. 26(5): p. 676-680. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0843-2