Rating reopening risks

Experts analyze safety of baseball games, bars and amusement parks

The Bay Area is marching week by week, county by county, through California’s reopening levels, with increasingly fewer restrictions on what residents and businesses can do. Restaurants, wineries and amusement parks now are welcoming the public back, with baseball games, sleepaway camps, and maybe even music festivals on the cusp.

But as public health officials scale back pandemic rules, it will be up to individuals to assess which activities feel comfortable as things slowly get back to normal. “Everything has risks and benefits,” said Dr. Nathan Lo, an infectious disease expert at UCSF. “It’s all an individualbased decision.”

“Everything has risks and benefits. It’s all an individualbased decision.” Dr. Nathan Lo, infectious disease expert at UCSF

The basic COVID19 precautions should remain in place when leaving the house, the experts warn. Wear a mask, wash your hands, don’t touch your face, avoid crowded spaces and maintain physical distance from others.

With the threat of more contagious variants in the Bay Area and the uptick of cases that typically follows the reopening of the economy, the coronavirus should still be considered a threat, particularly for people who are older or with preexisting health conditions. Infectious disease experts say that even those who are vaccinated could still get sick.

So how do you safely take advantage of the businesses and activities that will be allowed in the less restrictive tiers of the state’s reopening plan? We asked the experts.

Attending a baseball game: Thinking about going to the ballpark? While being outdoors is safer than indoors, attending a game also involves a lot of social contact with people who are not members of your family — especially in crowded spots.

“Watching the game itself is relatively low risk,” said Dr. Peter ChinHong, an infectious disease expert at UCSF. “It’s the things people don’t talk about, like lining up to get in or going to the bathrooms.”

Limited capacity at stadiums will make things safer but, vaccinated or not, mixing multiple households could still pose a risk.

“Certainly, we would recommend wearing a mask and taking the other precautions,” said Lo. “Ideally, there is pregame testing.”

Going to an amusement park: Once again, outdoor spaces are safer than indoor, but lines and crowded areas could raise the risk. Some newer rides may be well ventilated but be wary of older attractions, said ChinHong, especially those where you have to sit close to people from outside of your household.

“You don’t want to be on a boat with a bunch of noses and mouths,” he said.

Limited capacity and mandatory face masks are helpful. When Disneyland announced its reopening, some news outlets mistakenly reported that the park would ask people not to shout or scream on its rides.

While that was not true, ChinHong said activities known to cause an increased spread of droplets should still be avoided.

“You can’t scream politely on a roller coaster,” he said. “But if you don’t turn around and scream directly in someone’s face, it’s OK.”

Going to an outdoor concert or festival: The setting for an outdoor music festival is relatively safe, but the people who attend festivals are most likely not.

Adults ages 20 through 49 have accounted for about 72% of coronavirus infections in the United States, according to a report published in Science.

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images People ride on the Joker roller coaster at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, which reopens to the public Saturday.

Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle Baseball fan Kais Shirgul (right) boos Houston Astros’ Carlos Correa as Nathaniel Zuckerman cheers on the Athletics in their season opener at the Oakland Coliseum on Thursday.

Paul Kuroda / Special to The Chronicle 2019 Above: Karen Ku, Wanna Tau and Sheridan Molhle attend Outside Lands in August 2019. Right: Patrons dine inside McCarthy’s Irish Bar in San Francisco on St. Patrick’s Day.