Are outdoor sporting events superspreader events?

There are still many questions regarding Covid-19 that do not have a simple answer, especially in relation to sporting events at stadiums in this new world we live in.

A person can be vaccinated, but yet they still can still catch and spread the virus.  Some claim it is due to antibodies waning over time, while other claim it has to do with the fact that the original vaccine was created for the original virus, and the newer delta variant (and other variants) are mutations of the original virus. 

What that means is that although you still have some protection, it may not prevent you from getting sick.  It will just prevent you from getting very sick and potentially save you from ending up in the hospital with serious illness.

The world would be so much easier if simple questions would have simple answers. Is PlayCroco Casino the best online website for casino games?  Yes or no!  But ask 10 different people, and you will get ten different answers for ten different reasons.

The same is true for asking if outdoor sporting events at major stadiums are considered superspreader events in relation to Covid. There are a lot of different variables that can affect things.

Does Natural Immunity make a difference in COVID protection?

Yes, it does, unless the government knows something that they are not telling the rest of the world.  For example, the virus is not natural and does not behave like every other virus in the whole entire world behaves?  Now, in 2021, a virus that came from a town that had Level 4 Bio-Lab experiments going on, is now behaving differently than all previous viruses from the last 13 billion years?

Smallpox is a very contagious disease.  It wiped out 90% of the Native Americans on the west coast before 1620, because the Native Americans had no natural immunity and the pilgrims did.

So although, when this disease first started in the US in February 2020, almost nobody had natural immunity, medical experts now estimate that 4 out of 5 people who caught COVID, it was officially detected (tested for).

How contagious is the delta variant of COVID?

The Delta variant of COVID is twice as contagious as the original variant of COVID, but it is not as deadly (which is to be expected with variants).  The Delta variant has a quick growth rate, 50% faster than the original variant.  The symptoms are headache, sore throat, runny note, and fever.  Cough and loss of smell are less common.

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had originally estimated that “close contact” with an infected person meant spending 15 minutes together, unmasked and indoors.   A recent, not-yet-peer-reviewed study suggests that the delta variant may have a viral load that is 1,000 times higher than the original virus. If that’s correct, Céline Gounder, a clinical assistant professor of medicine and infectious disease at NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine, roughly calculated that the equivalent amount of time for the delta variant would be one second of contact rather than 15 minutes.”

Is the event indoors?

This definitely has an impact on the spread of a virus.  Indoor air is recirculated air unless the windows are open.  Let’s look at a movie theater.  It is an indoor event where everybody is in a small room, most likely eating, so they have their masks off or down, and they are not talking, and they in the room for around two hours.

It’s for this reason crowd restrictions at indoor stadiums have been more than outdoor stadiums, and for venues with retractable roofs, such as Marvel Stadium, the roof has generally been left open even if rain has been forecast, to allow for larger crowds.

Is the event outdoors?

Although a person can still technically spread a virus through outdoor contact, it is much less likely.  Walking down an uncrowded street, very unlikely.  Standing together at a bus stop, a bit more likely.  Sitting together in a sports stadium, potentially.

So although many people feared that major sports events would spread COVID, it mostly hasn’t happened.  Or at least, it did not happen to a level that caused people to end up in a hospital or to seek out medical help beyond going to the local pharmacist. There has been some minor cases in Australia, although precautions have been put in place such as splitting stadiums into several zones to ensure the virus is contained to a small section of the crowd.

Even though many people are vaccinated for COVID, a lot of older people are still being cautious.  So instead of going to a packed outdoor stadium, they gather with a group of friends and watch the football game with a group of friends either indoors or outdoors.

Does the age of the people attending an event matter?

Probably.  Since the beginning of this pandemic, people over 60 had a higher risk of catching and having serious complications with COVID than people under 60.  The same is true with existing medical conditions, including Diabetes and Cancer.

So maybe 5 years ago, a major sports event would have a whole age range of people watching the game live.  Now, some older people stay away while younger people continue to attend the stadium.  It is not a hard-fast rule, because some younger people choose to still avoid these packed events and some older people still choose to attend these events.

Would COVID passports help to stop the spread of the virus?

According to a study in England, the answer is no.  This is due to the fact that people who are unvaccinated and they do not want to bother to get tested, will just go to their local indoor bar rather than the large outdoor stadium. And since being indoors for a long period of time will increase the chance of COVID spreading, the Passport restrictions were not helping the spread of COVID.

Maybe people, including medical people, believe that the COVID Passports do not do anything to actually help the spread of COVID, and that their only purpose is to make people’s lives uncomfortable, so they will choose to get the COVID vaccine.

And the million dollar question, is the COVID vaccine worth any potential risks?

That is a personal question.  For the elderly and people with pre-existing medical conditions, the answer is yes.  Even if it does not prevent you from getting COVID, it can prevent you from being hospitalised and dying.

For people, 16 - 60, again, the answer appears to be yes.  The COVID vaccine functions the same way as the influenza vaccine kids get when they are babies.  It does not prevent you from getting the flu in the future.  It does bring your body up to around 50%, so instead of dying, you just become sick.

As for those under 16, this is more of an unknown.  First, they are not able to tell us if the protection is lifetime protection, even if it is not 100% protection.  Second, how is this going to affect bodies that haven’t fully developed yet?

And then, how often will people need to get another vaccine shot, or booster? There are still many unknowns. It’s important to note many young people have caught COVID and did not even realise they had the virus.

Summary

There is no evidence that attending an outdoor sporting event results in a superspreader event. So, you can continue to attend stadiums, including the upcoming summer of cricket and A-League football. Indoor sports may be a different matter and some more caution may need to be taken, such as wearing masks, but either way, it’s great to see stadium restrictions easing around Australia as life returns to normal.