I am really not that concerned with 'distancing' while on the ice: When not sweeping, we are doing it anyway--Why? Because you never want to get too close to someone (especially someone holding a broom) when you are standing near to them on a slippery surface...you can't always anticipate which way they may turn..or walk...or move in any direction still holding that broom! This has always been my thinking--I am pretty much always super-aware of my surroundings when out there (I have fallen a couple of times--fortunately never on my head--but I know it's not a good feeling!) As for sweeping...I am thinking of the standard epidemiological equation: Infection=Exposure X Time. In other words, How Long do I have to be close enough to someone to obtain sufficient viral load from their exhaled breath? Assuming maybe at most 25 seconds close to them if we sweep the rock all the way down the sheet...sweeping at most 6 rocks (all but your own) = 150 seconds (or 2:30 per end...X 8 ends on average...=18.4 minutes. That is likely just on the borderline as to what is considered safe enough (comparable to having a face-to-face conversation with someone for 15-20 minutes); based on what we know about how much viral load may be expelled with influenza, and assuming it would be roughly the same with coronavirus. Much, of course, would also depend on the adequacy of the curling ice shed ventilation and air-exchange...
Interesting observations. The 18 minute calculation is assuming a nothing-but-draws game, which speaks to me. It's probably less, adding in walking back together, standing on the sideline, putting the rocks back. What I would say to it is there are certainly encounters where two people will be <6 feet together, and that's unavoidable, hence the masks. And better to be overly cautious instead of not cautions enough. I also wrote this in April and some of the stuff may not apply, though it looks like most of these things, more or less, are happening in all clubs. Stay safe, hope your curling season goes well!
You are right; it does...as I was looking at the "at most" scenario; should hits need to be swept, the time would obviously be lower/less. It would appear at this point that the advice being provided (at least, by Curl Canada, which I have examined) is to get around the issue by using only one sweeper, not two...something that I had been seeing more and more of in recent seasons, anyway. However--there are still times when (if the shot is made rather less than perfectly!) serious effort is going to be needed from two sweepers! And in those situations, in spite of being directed not to--force of habit might just take over! Thanks for your response; best wishes to you too for a great curling season...
Question about skips sweeping in the house behind the hog line. How will they be able to keep apart using these rules ? Skips can often get way too close to each other trying to pick up sweeping when the other team stops. I would suggest one more radical change to the game to resolve this. Put in two 3 foot lines, one before and one after the hog line. The space before the first 3 foot line is for the delivering team to sweep their rocks, the space after the back 3 foot line is for the non delivering team to sweep their rocks or their opponents, and the space in between is a no go area where no one is allowed to sweep.
What a crock! Are curling rinks shut down around the world during flu season? Are bonspiels called off when one person has a cold? You Mr. Sussman are a snowflake
Something to consider:
Adjacent sheets starting on opposite ends of the sheet to reduce amount of time teams are standing near each other.
It's such an easy change that requires zero extra equipment. I love it.
I am really not that concerned with 'distancing' while on the ice: When not sweeping, we are doing it anyway--Why? Because you never want to get too close to someone (especially someone holding a broom) when you are standing near to them on a slippery surface...you can't always anticipate which way they may turn..or walk...or move in any direction still holding that broom! This has always been my thinking--I am pretty much always super-aware of my surroundings when out there (I have fallen a couple of times--fortunately never on my head--but I know it's not a good feeling!) As for sweeping...I am thinking of the standard epidemiological equation: Infection=Exposure X Time. In other words, How Long do I have to be close enough to someone to obtain sufficient viral load from their exhaled breath? Assuming maybe at most 25 seconds close to them if we sweep the rock all the way down the sheet...sweeping at most 6 rocks (all but your own) = 150 seconds (or 2:30 per end...X 8 ends on average...=18.4 minutes. That is likely just on the borderline as to what is considered safe enough (comparable to having a face-to-face conversation with someone for 15-20 minutes); based on what we know about how much viral load may be expelled with influenza, and assuming it would be roughly the same with coronavirus. Much, of course, would also depend on the adequacy of the curling ice shed ventilation and air-exchange...
Interesting observations. The 18 minute calculation is assuming a nothing-but-draws game, which speaks to me. It's probably less, adding in walking back together, standing on the sideline, putting the rocks back. What I would say to it is there are certainly encounters where two people will be <6 feet together, and that's unavoidable, hence the masks. And better to be overly cautious instead of not cautions enough. I also wrote this in April and some of the stuff may not apply, though it looks like most of these things, more or less, are happening in all clubs. Stay safe, hope your curling season goes well!
You are right; it does...as I was looking at the "at most" scenario; should hits need to be swept, the time would obviously be lower/less. It would appear at this point that the advice being provided (at least, by Curl Canada, which I have examined) is to get around the issue by using only one sweeper, not two...something that I had been seeing more and more of in recent seasons, anyway. However--there are still times when (if the shot is made rather less than perfectly!) serious effort is going to be needed from two sweepers! And in those situations, in spite of being directed not to--force of habit might just take over! Thanks for your response; best wishes to you too for a great curling season...
Question about skips sweeping in the house behind the hog line. How will they be able to keep apart using these rules ? Skips can often get way too close to each other trying to pick up sweeping when the other team stops. I would suggest one more radical change to the game to resolve this. Put in two 3 foot lines, one before and one after the hog line. The space before the first 3 foot line is for the delivering team to sweep their rocks, the space after the back 3 foot line is for the non delivering team to sweep their rocks or their opponents, and the space in between is a no go area where no one is allowed to sweep.
What a crock! Are curling rinks shut down around the world during flu season? Are bonspiels called off when one person has a cold? You Mr. Sussman are a snowflake