Reduced capacity events evade virus, study finds
No link found between reduced capacity football games and increase in cases
There’s good news and bad news: Catching a football game at a stadium with reduced capacity didn’t cause an uptick in coronavirus cases, according to a new study, but the encouraging results for fans and players won’t necessarily hold this season with packed stadiums, the lead author said. “We were surprised at first. We expected there
would be some increase in the cases because the games
were held with fan attendance,” said Jagpreet Chhatwal, the associate director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Technology Assessment and an author of the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Chhatwal and his colleagues looked at counties across the United States that hosted National Football League or National Collegiate Athletic Association games with reduced capacity from August to December of last year and tracked coronavirus trends compared with counties that did not host a game.
A total of 528 games were included in the study, and the median attendance for NFL games had around 10,000 fans in the stands. Data on attendance for the NCAA games was not available.
The researchers found no association between higher coronavirus cases at the county level and hosting football games.
Counties that hosted games saw a median of 26 cases per 100,000 residents on game day compared with 24 cases per 100,000 residents in the control counties.
“We believe this result is good news, but the reasons behind this could be that almost all games had strict protocols on social dancing and masks. The stadiums were not at full capacity,” Chhatwal told the Herald.
Now as football season ramps up, arenas such as Gillette Stadium won’t be operating under such conditions. There will be no mask mandate or capacity restrictions at the Foxboro stadium, according to regulations posted online.
“This is very concerning. I was frankly surprised that stadiums would be packed and no mask mandates. This was a big surprise to me considering how transmissible the delta variant is,” Chhatwal said.
Chhatwal said that even with vaccination, large gatherings without social distancing is a “recipe for disaster.”
He said for football fans considering buying tickets to a game, it’s important to weigh the risks and opt to watch from home if need be.
“If they do choose to go then masks are the best safety amour they should consider. Without masks it will be risky to watch games,” Chhatwal said.
He added, “The message is very clear. We are not done with COVID. We know the delta variant is very concerning.”
The Patriots’ preseason is underway and the home opener is set for Sept. 12 against the Miami Dolphins.