Letter of the day Is there really a risk of spreading Covid-19 while outdoors?
Stephen Kingnett (Not this year, March 19) insists (‘No, no and no!’) that the Victorious Festival should not go ahead this year, in case ‘one idiot who has not had his jab’ spreads the virus ‘like wildfire.’
On the same morning one of the daily papers carried a letter which stated: ‘It is well known that the chance of transmitting the virus outdoors in warm weather... is minimal.’ I'm not sure it is well-known.
Over the past month I have read a couple of pieces which suggest the great outdoors is one of the safest places to be. In one, Professor Mark Woolhouse, a university epidemiologist, stated that despite the ‘outcry’ by politicians, the media and the public there have been ‘no outbreaks linked to public beaches (and) there’s never been a Covid-19 outbreak linked to a beach anywhere in the world, to the best of my knowledge’. Another professor, Dr Muge Cevik, confirmed ‘only about 10 per cent of transmission events are linked to outdoor activities.’
The second recent piece was of medical experts reporting ‘not a single case of on-the-field transmission of the virus, has been confirmed in football, rugby union, rugby league or American football during a full year of the pandemic.’ The problem, Professor James Calder confirmed, comes ‘off the pitch, in the changing rooms, car sharing...’ etc.
Are the authorities monitoring any impact from recently condemned events like the celebrations of Rangers fans in Glasgow or the weekend vigil in London? Will they result in increased infections? If we are really 'following the data', what does it report?
Dr Dave Allen South Normandy, Old Portsmouth