SSMT and COVID-19

December 31, 2021 update

Since reopening in September, 2020, 16 months ago, no one – no student, instructor, administrator, clinic client, or visitor – has contracted COVID-19 on the SSMT campus. We have quarantined more than a dozen classes for 14 days after someone in the classroom contracted COVID-19 outside school, but none of the quarantined students or instructors developed COVID-19.

Since reopening, our building has seen more than 100,000 person-hours indoors. That we have had students  practice massage for five hours in class with a partner at the peak of pre-symptomatic COVID-19, without contracting the disease from that partner, tells us our policies have worked.

Because of the current Omicron surge, we are eliminating the mask exemption for the fully vaccinated. We hope that early in the new year, it will be found that the usually mild cases of Omicron are less likely to develop into Long Covid than previous variants, and we will be able to loosen these requirements. This wave is expected to peak in January and be over in February. We look forward to that. In the meantime, if you choose to enter our facility, thank you for honoring the safety procedures below. They have been slightly modified due to the current surge.

Original Post, Oct. 2020:

This has been quite a year for everyone on the planet. For anyone like me, who has built a life – and a living – out of close human interaction, it has been a time for deep reflection.

Close contact with people increases the risk of infection from COVID-19. That risk increases further when contact is closer than 6 feet, and even further when it occurs indoors for durations longer than 10 or 15 minutes.

It is impossible to give or receive massage from 6 feet away, in 15 minutes, or limit classes to such a short duration.

Fortunately, we know more about how to minimize risk, even when meeting indoors for hours, than we did last spring.

SSMT reopened for live classes September 8, having held only theory classes online since March. We used the time live classes were paused to follow closely what scientists were learning about COVID-19, and how to minimize its chance of spread. We watched as other massage therapy schools around the country resumed live classes over the summer, and were pleased to note that – with a few precautions – spread in the classroom seems rare.

While we have watched other schools, open during the summer 2020 surge, send students home for quarantine because a student tested positive, we did not see a single case where a positive student spread the virus to others in the school. All the schools we’ve been in touch with require masks, some have air purification, but none have all the safety measures SSMT has adopted.

While there is no guarantee that any close human interaction is safe from spreading COVID-19, SSMT has adopted every measure that has worked in other schools, and other settings. Each measure is described in detail below the list. A few of the procedures below have been edited to update the most recent changes we’ve made to our policies.

• Ventilation – Air exchanged with the outside environment at least once every 45 minutes
• HEPA filtration – Air filtered through HEPA filters 5-7 times per hour
• UV-C and Ionizers – HVAC system fitted with the only air purifier approved by NASA
• Face Masks – Everyone in the building is masked always, with an SSMT-supplied ASTM Level 3 surgical mask .
• Disinfection – SSMT disinfects all surfaces twice each day with the most non-toxic disinfectant on the FDA’s approved list.
• Physical Distancing – Except for trading partners and practical instructors, everyone maintains at least six feet of distance – and often much more
• Online Instruction – Some science and theory classes are held online
• Limited Class Size – to accommodate distancing, class size is limited

Ventilation – There is a vent in the exterior wall allowing  outside air into the HVAC system, so fresh exterior air is cooled and pumped into the classrooms and offices. The four classrooms have exhaust fans that draw air up and out of the room through the roof. The entire volume of air in the classrooms is exchanged every 45 minutes. These rooms are also used as student clinic rooms.

HEPA filtration – There are two HEPA filtration units in each classroom, and similar units in the offices, library, bathrooms, and reception area. These turn over the entire volume of air in the classrooms over seven times each hour, passing it through what is essentially an N95 mask for indoor air.

UV-C and Ionizers – SSMT has installed Aerus Air Scrubber units in each of the four HVAC units. These have the same technology used on the space shuttle, and function whenever the unit is cooling (or heating). They pass the air through UV-C light, and produce hydroxyl ions, peroxides, and oxygen anions that are safe for humans, but attach to pathogens, pulling them out of the air, and killing them. SSMT installed the model without ozone, since ozone may have negative effects on health. We don’t expect these ionizers have nearly the effect that HEPA filters do, but every bit helps.

Face Masks – Since March 2020, there has been much research on mask effectiveness, and we have followed it closely. It is now clear that ASTM Level 3 surgical masks protect both the wearer and others, though imperfectly. While there is leakage, wearing a rated, well-sealed mask decreases the odds of contracting COVID-19 by half, and decreases the odds of spreading it by more than half. With everyone masked, the odds of an infection  spreading decrease by more than 80%. Students, instructors, administration, staff, and all visitors to SSMT wear face masks, with a nose-wire, that covers the nose and mouth, and fits without gaps all around.

Disinfection – SSMT disinfects all surfaces twice each day with Oxivir, a hydrogen peroxide-based disinfectant. It is a potent virucide, non-toxic to humans. (We do this mostly for general hygiene; scientists no longer think COVID-19 is spread from surfaces).

Physical Distancing – We ask everyone in the building maintains at least six feet of distance – and often much more, except when doing massage. Partners practicing massage are more than six feet from others at the next massage table.

Online Instruction – Now that we have resumed live classes on campus, most classes are held live on campus. Students will continue to  attend some science and theory classes online. The online classes are streamed live, and include opportunities for participation. SSMT has created dynamic and effective visual presentations to anchor lectures and discussions. Students’ performance and enjoyment of online classes has generally been similar to what occurs in live classes.

Limited Class Size – To accommodate distancing, class size has been limited, depending on the classroom. Update June 19, 2021: We have started eleven classes since the pandemic began, including groups that started online in the spring and summer of 2020. Because of the limited size, nine of the eleven classes have had wait lists. People exploring the possibility of attending SSMT are encouraged to begin the process early.