On August 22, German musician Tim Bendzko performed in front of 1,200+ concertgoers at Leipzig Arena in Leipzig, Germany. A resulting study has been published and according to a report from the New York Times, the researchers found the risk of the coronavirus spreading at similar events is “low to very low.” A huge caveat is that proper safety protocols must be in place including, “adequate ventilation, strict hygiene protocols and limited capacity.”
“There is no argument for not having such a concert,” Dr. Michael Gekle, a member of team from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg who conducted the study, told the New York Times in an interview. “The risk of getting infected is very low.” The next step is having the study peer reviewed. “Some experts expressed skepticism about the results, saying they needed to be replicated and reviewed, and that more information was needed about how researchers used the modeling,” added New York Times journalist Isabella Kwai.
Attendees and production staff volunteered to take part in the study. They were each tested for the coronavirus and had their temperature checked ahead of gaining entry to the concert. Read more on the procedure used:
Each person was given a hand disinfectant laced with a florescent dye and a digital location tracker, and different social distancing scenarios were simulated over 10 hours. They included breaks for attendees to go to the bathroom and to simulate buying food and drink from vendors.
The report found one of the most important elements to help stop the spread at an indoor concert is the ventilation at venues. Researchers with the aid of computer modeling theorize that the circulation of fresh air through the arena made a huge impact. In a scenario where the circulation of fresh air via jet nozzles was turned off would lead to 10 times the risk of exposure to aerosols from an infected concertgoer versus when the nozzles were turned on.
Head to the New York Times for more findings from the study or read the study yourself to make your own conclusions.
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