New York’s large stadiums and sports arenas may soon reopen their doors at 10% of normal capacity, according to a plan announced Wednesday by Governor Andrew Cuomo, despite public health experts’ concern about the still-high rates. of COVID-19 infection and the threat of more contagion variants.
Cuomo said that major stadiums and arenas with a capacity of 10,000 people or more may reopen with limited spectators starting February 23.
The Barclays Center, which has about 17,700 seats for basketball games, has already received state approval to reopen Feb. 23 for the Brooklyn Nets’ home game against the Sacramento Kings.
And the New York Knicks and New York Rangers said they plan to host about 2,000 fans each game, starting with the Feb. 23-26 games at Madison Square Garden.
The Nets and Knicks are among a dozen of the 30 NBA teams that are allowing some fans to attend games, according to the league’s website. It’s unclear how many states allow thousands of people to attend indoor concerts.
A spokesperson for the New York Yankees called Cuomo’s announcement an “encouraging first step.”
Statement from the New York Yankees: pic.twitter.com/gHH3UrVJCK
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) February 10, 2021
But CUNY School of Public Health professor of epidemiology Denis Nash said the New York approach lacks science when “the prevalence in the community is very high.”
Nash and other public health experts interviewed by The Associated Press noted that there is evidence that COVID-19 spreads more easily indoors and questioned why New York’s policy includes covered stadiums, increasing the risk of indoor stadiums. people sit close to others who may be cheering or removing masks while eating.
“Thinking about bringing people to large groups and mass gatherings, even in closed stadiums, right now seems like a contradiction to our efforts to really maximize the impact that the vaccine rollout will have on controlling the pandemic,” Nash said. , Executive Director of the CUNY Institute for the Science of Implementation in Population Health.
The number of new infections in New York is declining, but is still far higher than most states per capita: Nearly 62,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past seven days, a rate that was recorded for the last time in early December.
At least 1,000 people with COVID-19 have died in residences and hospitals each week since the beginning of January.
And New York has the nation’s highest rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations per capita: 7,593 patients as of Tuesday, up from nearly 9,300 in mid-January.
Eli Rosenberg, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Albany School of Public Health, said he is concerned about making sure centers are following the rules, and whether the change suggests New York is “out of the woods.”
“We are still at a very serious point, although the trajectory is good,” said Rosenberg.
Still, Cuomo and his aides have compared the signs of slowing the spread after the winter surge with those in mid-May, when his administration began lifting restrictions.
“Sports and live entertainment have long been ingrained in the fabric of New York, and the inability to host events has only increased the isolation we have all felt at the hands of this virus,” Cuomo said.
Stadiums should require face covering, social distancing, and temperature control, as well as assigning “socially distanced” seats and meeting air filtration and purification standards.
Cuomo said that all staff and spectators must receive a negative lab test within 72 hours of the event. Cuomo’s assistant, Gareth Rhodes, said 82% of tests in New York are giving results within 48 hours.
However, this leaves open the possibility that people who recently contracted COVID-19 test negative one day but may transmit the virus on game day, according to Scott Weisenberg, infectious disease specialist and director of the travel medicine program. from NYU Langone Health.
Cuomo has touted his pilot program, which has allowed nearly 6,800 Buffalo Bills fans to watch two playoff games in person at the outdoor stadium after testing negative for COVID-19.
“We have had virtually no cases of contagion from that game,” Cuomo said on January 29.
However, Cuomo has not responded to repeated requests from the AP for evidence of that claim.
The Health Department had planned to cross the list of attendees with the list of people who tested positive in New York in the next two weeks, but state health officials said they were unable to trace some 281 out-of-state fans who attended. to the first game.
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