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    INDOOR CONCERTS DURING COVID ERA

    13th January 2021

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    THE RESULTS OF LIVE PILOTS

    2020 has been a very tough year for the entertainment and live events sector. 

    The health emergency has also brought this whole world to its knees, which has seen a 97% drop in turnover compared to 2019. According to the Inps, 27% of professionals in the live music industry have abandoned this job forever and many more will follow them shortly if a solution is not found as soon as possible.

    Finding a way to start listening to live music again and restarting the entertainment industry is a priority.

     

    Despite many difficulties, things are getting better and something seems to be moving towards alternative solutions, beyond the live streaming that we have been getting a little used to lately.

    Various institutes and organizations have taken steps to study concrete initiatives to bring the audience back under the stage. Tests have been carried out and innovative technologies have been tested to devise the new resumption of live music activities in Covid-safe mode. 

    All of this must certainly be taken with the right caution, but the fact that we are really moving towards some solution and that the first steps have been taken heartens us, but it makes us feel the adrenaline flowing in our veins again, above all it!

     

    Two European experiments triggered a lot of interest. According to the organizers, these are aimed at "validating this type of test as an extremely useful tool to be able to realize any type of event, musical or not, without social distancing”.

     

    The first project was the German one entitled RESTART-19 project. 22nd August 2020 at the Quarterback Immobilien Arena in Leipzig, the German popstar Tim Bendzko performed in front of about 1.500 volunteers in a live divided into three parts. In the first simulation it was recreated a pre-pandemic situation, where no social distancing was respected; in the second simulation it was adopted generic hygiene measures and imposed a small physical distancing. These first two scenarios didn’t give positive results, but the third simulation yielded to an encouraging result.

    All the volunteer participants in this unit were forced to wear masks and grouped in pairs; then, each pair spaced one and a half meters from the nearest one. Before entering the venue (filled with only 12% of its maximum capacity of spectators) they had been equipped with a tracking device that allowed to record its movements inside the arena and the interpersonal distance maintained. During the show, synthetic smoke machines were also used to study the trend of air flows and hand sanitizers with fluorescent liquid were installed to help track contacts.

     

     "We have been able to develop a mathematical model that shows what measures should be implemented at important events to minimize the risk of Covid-19 infection", said Dr. Stefan Moritz, project manager at the faculty of Medicine of the university promoting the initiative, very satisfied already in the aftermath of the event. The results of the Leipzig experiment (you can find them here), published towards the end of last October, proved that the spread of the virus is quite low if anti-contagion safety standards are respected. The Restar-19 project has been closely watched by the global live industry as it shows that the adoption of a protocol, considered potentially reliable by legislators, would allow the resumption of events in the less acute phase of the pandemic.

     

     

     

    Following what has been experienced in Germany, Spain has also supported in the Catalan capital a pilot project promoted by the Fight AIDS foundation together with the organizers of the Primavera Sound Festival and the Germans Trias University Hospital. On December 12th, at the Apolo Hall in Barcelona, PRIMA-CoV was conducted, a rapid collective clinical screening experiment aimed at assessing the effectiveness of certain conditions of presence at live shows during the pandemic. 

    First, all 1,000 volunteers at the DJ set were subjected to a quick antigenic swab to assess their negativity. Among these, the doctors randomly chose about half of them and allowed them to enter into the Apolo Hall (originally approved for a maximum of 900 presences). 

    The "chosen volunteers" were able to attend the concert equipped with hand-sanitizing gel, FFP mask and dancing without any social distancing. They were also allowed to smoke in special outdoor areas (with contingent access) and consume drinks inside the room. The next day, they did a PCR test to validate the effectiveness of the antigenic tests and, 8 days after the event, all volunteers (including those who were not present at the concert) were given a second swab to better verify and map the possible spread of the infection.

    In fact, the meaning of the experiment was to evaluate whether, despite the negativity to the Coronavirus given by the antigenic test done at the entrance, infections could also occur inside the venue and also verify the effectiveness of rapid tests. The focus of the project was to evaluate the best protection and prevention strategies that could be adopted for events with a larger capacity.

     

    In these days the official results of the Spanish clinical trial will be published, but the positive outcome of the experiment has already been announced by Dr Josep Maria Llibre and Dr Boris Revollo, responsibles for the clinical trial, who stated that "The study allows to declare that an event that takes place under these same conditions is safe". None of the 463 people who attended the Apolo concert contracted the virus.

     

     

    The conclusions obtained from the results of the European tests are clear: organizing live shows indoors and without generating a coronavirus outbreak is possible!

     

    However, after passing this first health step, another important aspect must now be considered: the percentage of attendance calculated and granted in terms of health security is very low and, in some cases, the costs of the show would exceed the earnings recorded at the box office.

    Consequently, enforcing the rules imposed would be quite prohibitive.

    The German experiment showed that the greatest risk of contagion occurs during entrances to the venue and during intervals and that poor ventilation can significantly increase the number of people exposed to the risk of contagion. In view of this, strategies should focus on these two points: 

    - access to the event site would require more access, but this would lead to a significant increase in the costs of control and security personnel. 

    - the air exchange inside the site should be continuous, but modifying and keeping in operation an appropriate plant that meets this need would increase the costs for the organizers disproportionately.

    Do not underestimate the correct use of the mask. In this case, provision should also be made for staff to check the correct use of each individual mask during the event.

    Higher organizational costs could also mean an increase in the cost of the entrance ticket!

     

    So, while science and testing say Yes to indoor concerts, economic issues should not be underestimated. At this point, our conscience should make us think and have a little more patience.

     

    An effective vaccine currently remains our best weapon to defeat the coronavirus. But the theme of live events still remains very hot, despite the fact that many people are working to find solutions that satisfies all the parties involved.

     

     

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    We'll talk about other technologies and apps being studied soon that will help fans safely return to live events!

     

     

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