Is it a good idea to attend football games and outdoor concerts? We asked the experts
One glance at the stands during last weekend’s college football games across the state and you’d never guess we’re still in the middle of a serious COVID-19 surge.
But we are.
North Carolina reported more deaths from the virus last month than at any time since February. As of Sept. 8, at least 3,790 people were hospitalized with COVID in the state, including 928 who are being treated in intensive care units. And the state reported a rate of 15.8% this week for positive tests — well above the 5% rate health officials say is needed to slow the spread of the virus.
And yet, college football stadiums across the nation are filling with cheering fans, with no capacity limits, and for the most part, only the barest suggestion toward masking.
▪ NC State made masks at open-air Carter-Finley stadium optional in their opening game last week, except for when fans were in enclosed areas, such as restrooms. The school asked unvaccinated people to wear masks, but vaccination status was not checked.
▪ At the East Carolina vs. Appalachian State game at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium last Thursday, it was the same deal: masks encouraged but not required in outdoor places.
▪ Similarly, when UNC played at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg last Friday night, masks were encouraged, but only required when in indoor spaces.
▪ At the Duke vs. UNC-Charlotte game Friday (in Charlotte), mask rules were more strict, at least in theory: everyone was required to wear masks when inside the stadium, unless actively eating or drinking. Those at the game report that the rule was not enforced.
Masks would add a layer of safety
There are more games coming this weekend.
Duke plays NC A&T at home Friday. On Saturday, UNC plays Georgia State at home, ECU plays South Carolina at home and NC State plays an away game at Mississippi State. Of the four venues for these games, only Duke’s Wallace Wade Stadium requires masks for everyone, regardless of vaccination status.
“If everyone is wearing a mask, that adds a layer of safety,” Dr. Alexa Mieses Malchuk, a family medicine physician and public health expert at UNC School of Medicine, told The News & Observer.
“However, most people are not wearing masks.”
So we wonder: Is it really a good idea to crowd into stadiums — without capacity limits and without many masks — and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with strangers while we scream and cheer?
We asked a group of local health experts for their perspectives on attending football games right now, and also on outdoor concerts and outdoor street festivals.
In addition to Dr. Malchuk, we spoke to Dr. David Alain Wohl, a professor at the Institute of Global Health and Infectious Diseases at UNC-Chapel Hill; Dr. Anita Skariah, a UNC Health internist and pediatrician; and Dr. Cameron R. Wolfe, an infectious disease specialist at Duke University School of Medicine.
Here are the questions we asked and the responses.
Would you feel safe at a football game?
Question: Would you feel safe attending a college football game (or any outdoor sporting event)? We’ve been told outdoor activities are safer, but does the delta variant — and the crowds plus screaming/cheering — change that?
Wohl: “Delta is a game-changer (pun intended). This variant is hyper-infectious and hyper-dangerous. That means the things that worked to protect us from previous variants may not be sufficient to protect against delta.
“So, I would not go to a crowded event like a game where it might be hard for me to keep a healthy distance from others in the stands or aisles or bathroom. It’s just too many people in too close a space for comfort.”
Malchuk: “I would not feel safe. In fact, I have canceled travel plans for myself for this reason. While outdoors is better than indoors, you can’t physically distance from people at a sporting event (whether in the stands or at the concession stand).”
Wolfe: “These are all balanced situations. The bigger the crowd, and the tighter they pack them in, the worse the risk. Outdoors is clearly better, but not if you’re sitting cheek by cheek yelling for hours. So I do think people need to be realistic.
“Events that have food and drink, minimal masking and squash everyone in are simply asking for trouble right now. Give it a month or two and things may be considerably better. Clearly it’s better if you’re vaccinated and masked, no question. I recommend the same to my patients.”
Skariah: “At this point, with the COVID-19 infection rates increasing, including breakthrough cases, I would not feel comfortable attending college football games or outdoor sporting events unless I could be certain to be distanced from others. I would feel more comfortable for family and friends if they were in the very back rows, masked with some distance from others.
“Screaming and cheering unmasked just increases the likelihood for spread, especially among people in close proximity. Outdoor events can be safe if you are spread out some, which is much more difficult to maintain in packed stadiums, unmasked.”
Are outdoor concerts safe?
Question: Do you feel any differently about outdoor concerts?
Wohl: “If I could maintain a distance from others and it was not a huge event, I would go. For example, I went to hear music outdoors in Saxpawhaw last weekend and was able to be more than a dozen feet from others the whole time. Still, I wore a mask when I left our blanket.”
Malchuk: “I have no intention of attending a mass crowd event of any kind for quite some time. It seems like an unnecessary risk to take. When I discuss this with my patients, we talk about the risks and benefits together. Ultimately, each person has to decide for themselves with what level of risk they’re comfortable.”
Wolfe: “Same logic. Outdoors vs. indoors? Are you vaccinated and the people around you? Are you and they going to be masked? Are you going to wear the mask when given food, drink, cheering, singing, etc.? Then you factor in prevalence of disease.
“A good website I encourage people to go to is covid19risk.biosci.gatech.edu. Plug in the event size you want to go to and it will give the county risk of having someone there with COVID, whether they know it or not. There’s an 87% chance in an outdoor concert with 100 people that someone has COVID there. ... If you’re young, healthy, masked, vaccinated — that’s likely fine. If you’re older, at risk, not vaccinated, or work in front of very high risk patients every day — that’s really not a risk I feel happy to take right now, without some assurance of better mitigation.”
Skariah: “Outdoor concerts can also be safely enjoyed if not packed in together. For example, if you are in the lawn section, spread out some distance from others. This would be a safer option than indoor concerts. You could actually enjoy the event and not worry as much about becoming infected.”
Can we safely attend street festivals?
Question: What about outdoor street-style festivals, where people can space out more and they aren’t cheering?
Wohl: “Yes, with distance I feel comfortable outside.”
Malchuk: “It may be that at a street fair outdoors, you can more readily distance. But again, it’s important to consider standing in line to pay for something and being too close to another person, using public restrooms and exchanging money. Anything we do in public brings a risk, and no one can successfully live in a bubble, but mass crowd events are particularly risky.”
Wolfe: “I think these are fine. I will continue to wear a mask at this time, given the rate of COVID in the state.”
Skariah: “We are so fortunate to be living in an area where we can enjoy the outdoors longer. Outdoor street festivals are a great option where you can space yourselves out from others. I would still consider masking or keeping it handy when you know that you are in an area with a higher concentration of people.
“If you are a vendor, keep your masks on. If you go into a booth, with many people congregating, keep it on. Just be more aware of your surroundings.”
This story was originally published September 8, 2021 at 2:24 PM with the headline "Is it a good idea to attend football games and outdoor concerts? We asked the experts."
