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There are the Covid-19 bubbles – small groups of friends or family who agree to exclusively socialize with each other during the pandemic – and then there are the types of bubbles that the Flaming Lips have used. during recent concerts.
Band members and spectators rocked and bounced as they were encased in large individual plastic bubbles amid swirling bright lights in trippy stages at concerts Friday and Saturday in Oklahoma City.
The group took elaborate precautions during their live performances to protect against transmission of the coronavirus, but some health experts were unsure of the effectiveness of these measures.
“I would need to see how the air exchange occurred between the outside and the inside of the bubbles to be able to tell if it was safe on everything or if it reduced the risk of transmission”, said Dr Eric Cioe-Peña, director of global health at Northwell Health in New Hyde Park, NY
The concerts that took place on Friday and Saturday were originally scheduled for December, but the group has postponed them due to the increase in Covid-19 cases in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.
“It’s a very small and weird event,” band frontman Wayne Coyne told Rolling Stone last month. “But the oddity is that we can enjoy a gig before we put our families and everyone else in danger.”
“I think it’s a bit of a new normal,” he added. “You could go to a show, maybe not, but I think we’re going to be able to make it.”
In March, Mr Coyne posted a sketch on Instagram showing what the bubble concert could look like.
Nathan Poppe, videographer and photographer documenting the show for the group, said on twitter that the soil was placed in a grid of 10 bubbles by 10 bubbles. “Each bubble can hold one person or two or maybe three,” he says.
Photos showed fans climbing inside the spheres on the concert floor, where the bubbles were then inflated with leaf blowers.
Each bubble was equipped with a high frequency speaker, water bottle, fan, towel and sign if someone had to use the toilet or if it was too hot inside. If it got too stuffy inside, the bubble could be filled with fresh air, Mr Poppe said.
He said spectators can remove their masks inside the bubble but must wear them after leaving the bubble.
“You roll your bubble to the exit and unzip it at the door,” he says.
It is not immediately clear what happened to the bubbles used after the 90-minute performances, which were attended by around 200 people each.
Some health experts were concerned about the safety of users inside the bubbles.
“There is no evidence that these bubbles are effective – or not – from an infectious disease transmission perspective,” said Dr. Sandro Galea, dean of the Boston University School of Public Health.
He said that controlling the transmission of the virus depends on good air circulation and good filtration.
“So in theory, if the air filtration is good, protective barriers can usefully increase and reduce the risk of transmission, but I would hesitate to attend a concert in a bubble at this time unless it is. ‘has been evaluated further,’ he said.
Dr Cioe-Peña said the plastic bubbles used in concerts did not appear to be ventilated. But if each of the bubbles “had a supply of bidirectionally filtered air,” he said, “it would effectively prevent the transmission of Covid between the bubbles.”
While a plastic bubble could help reduce exposure to “infectious agents” if filled with filtered air, it could also lead to increased levels of carbon dioxide inside the bubble, said Richard E. Peltier, associate professor of environmental health sciences at the University. of Massachusetts Amherst.
“My recommendation would be to add a small CO2 sensor to the bubble,” he says. “While not always the most precise, they should be enough to tell a viewer it’s time to take a break and freshen up that stale air. And then start enjoying the music again safely.
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