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A German study provided a glimmer of hope for disappointed onlookers, after their activities were curtailed due to the spread of the emerging coronavirus pandemic.
According to the “New York Times”, an analysis of an indoor concert hosted by scientists in August indicates that the effect of such events on the spread of the coronavirus indicates “low to very low” as long as the organizers provide ventilation. adequate and strict hygiene and absorption protocols, according to the German researchers who conducted the study. .
“There is no excuse for not having such parties,” said Michael Jekyll, a member of the team at Martin Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg that conducted the study.
The test, which is one of the first in-depth examinations of how the virus is transmitted between a crowd in an enclosed space, has been closely watched in the global entertainment industry, which has been hampered by lockdown restrictions in most countries since the outbreak of the epidemic earlier this year.
Good results … however
But some experts have expressed skepticism about the findings, saying they need to be replicated and revised, and that more information is needed on how researchers are using research evidence.
Gabriel Scully, head of epidemiology and public health at the Royal Society of Medicine, said the results could be “beneficial” but that it could be difficult to replicate the controls applied by researchers in many events of the real world.
To measure contacts during the concert, which was held in Leipzig, volunteers were screened to make sure they were free of the virus, and temperature checks were performed before entering the venue.
Each person was also given a hand sanitizer with fluorescent dye and a digital location tracker, and various social distancing scenarios were simulated over a 10-hour period, and the research included breaks for participants to travel to. toilets and simulate buying food and drink from vendors.
Three scenarios
In the three stages of the study, social distancing did not occur in the first scenario, while they were partially separated in the second scenario, and in the third case, social distancing was implemented. precisely.
The researchers also used a fog machine to monitor the movement of air inside the location and calculate the likelihood of exposure to aerosol droplets.
In one embodiment, jet vents on the roof and above the rows of the rows send cool air through the interior floor of the yard.
In another embodiment, the cool air from the saloon was drawn to the surface and the jet nozzles were closed.
The researchers said that computer modeling found that 10 times the number of people who would be exposed to the spray from an infectious person in the second scenario compared to the first scenario, indicating that regular air circulation reduces the density of any virus in the aerial spray, pointing out that social distancing reduced exposure to the spray.
In this regard, Jekyll said: “We knew ventilation was important, but we didn’t expect it to be so important.”
The simulations also found that prolonged communication – at least for several minutes – was highest during programming breaks and when an audience entered the room.
Recommendations and tips
But Paul Linden, professor of fluid mechanisms at Cambridge University, noted that computer modeling did not take into account factors such as overheating in the audience or indoor air turbulence, and that it was difficult to determine if this was the airflow pattern or less ventilation in space that It increased the exposure to aerosols.
He added that as a general rule, places are needed to bring in as much clean air as possible in order to reduce transmission rates.
The German team has already made a series of recommendations for safety tips at live events, including the installation of new ventilation technology that efficiently and regularly exchanges air, food and drink, making mandatory masks and requiring participants to enter through several entrances.
The researchers made a series of recommendations that included limiting attendance to 50% of the space and making masks mandatory.
It should be noted that the study was published and announced at a press conference on Thursday, but has yet to be reviewed.
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