The spread of COVID-19, a strain of coronavirus, has quickly reached pandemic levels in countries like China and Italy and sent the global economy tumbling.
Global health experts have stated that the disease is past containment, and we should now focus on limiting the spread to communities, especially those who are immunocompromised.
With this in mind, we have answers to some of your questions about how to do so, especially with regards to sporting events. You may have tickets to an upcoming professional game, or a youth sporting tournament that your children are set to participate in.
Should you attend? Does it make a difference if the event is indoors or outdoors? We have the best answers we could find.
It’s not you … it’s others to worry about
Before we get into anything, we should say: When deciding if to attend a large gathering, you need to think about the entire population. As of now, there hasn’t been much evidence that COVID-19 affects children. Because of this, you may not hesitate attending a children’s sporting tournament.
But the main fear of COVID-19 is uncontainable spread. Doctors and researchers don’t know enough about this disease, and want to limit its growth before they understand it better and, hopefully, eventually design a vaccine. Even if you don’t personally feel threatened, or you don’t feel your children are, you can still carry and transmit the virus to elderly or immunocompromised people who are threatened by it.
Avoid large crowds if you can, especially indoors
In an interview with the USA TODAY Editorial Board, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who served as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration from 2017 to 2019, said: “I think right now, we should be limiting large gatherings, especially in areas where we know that there’s spread.”
Gottlieb would go on to specify that large gatherings that are indoors are especially worrisome, as the disease transmits more easily there. If you can avoid large gatherings, especially indoors ones, like a youth tournament or a basketball agreement, you should do so.
For outdoor events, especially if the weather is warm, it’s slightly more manageable a risk, but if you have heard about an outbreak in your area, you will probably want to avoid all large gatherings, indoors or out.
Wash hands often, and definitely stay home if sick
COVID-19 appears to spread through small droplets, which can be transmitted from the face or hands. This is why doctors are encouraging people to avoid touching their faces. Another way to combat the spread is to wash your hands often, and thoroughly.
Likewise, even if you feel a small cough coming on, avoid other people. Stay home. Work from home if possible. The disease is believed to be transmittable even before symptoms come on, and even if you are just fighting a common cold, you should be limiting the transmission of any virus during a time like this.
The decision may not be up to you
More and more leagues around the world are canceling sporting events, or playing them behind closed doors.
Again, this is former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb:
I think we’re going to be at a point very soon where we think of canceling sporting events (or holding) them in empty stadiums like they’re doing in South Korea. You don’t want to bring together a lot of people in closed spaces, especially indoors, where you can have easy transfer. Look at what happened with the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) and AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) conferences. Do you want to continue to hold conferences and have to run the risk that your entire attendee list is put into a quarantine because there was someone there who is infected?
Basically, we’re most likely headed to closed stadiums for sporting events, especially if this starts to spread like they think it might.
How long will this last?
We don’t know. Dr. Gottlieb pointed out that the virus seemed to struggle with hot, humid air, and pointed toward July and August as a possible stop point, but those are estimated guesses. We aren’t sure how long this will go on.
For now, we need to try to limit the spread of disease and give the global medical community time to work. If you can, avoid large gatherings, especially large sporting events indoors.
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