The great music festivals have resumed in America, with strict sanitary protocols, but with huge crowds of spectators. All this, given that the new Delta version of the virus is proving to be much more contagious than originally thought. Moreover, experts say, even those vaccinated can spread the virus. Specialists warn: this is just the beginning of a new wave of Covid.
A Chicago music festival drew huge crowds of about 100,000 fans every day. It was the largest gathering of people since the beginning of the Covid pandemic. Participants entered either a vaccination certificate or a negative anti-Covid test no older than 72 hours. In addition, the unvaccinated were permanently required to wear a protective mask and bracelets to access the festival.
“Vaccination card please!
-It’s crazy like never before. The music is wonderful and there are a lot of nice people. It’s an outing in the city, what more can we say. In the best city in America. ”
But public health officials – and not just them – have warned that such crowds, even outdoors, risk becoming a massive source of coronavirus Delta infections. Which – as the latest study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows – is far more contagious than originally thought.
Antony FAUCI, EPIDIMIOLOGIST: “Vaccinated people who have become infected are able to infect an uninfected person.”
Those vaccinated are protected from severe forms of the disease, but – warns the study – transmit the Delta strain as easily as those who have not been immunized. Recently, Dutch officials were stunned to discover this month that a much smaller music festival – 20,000 people, held over two days – led to a thousand new cases of Covid, although health protocols were similar to those at the Chicago festival.
On the other hand, all 41 theaters on Broadway now require mandatory vaccination for both spectators and staff. And Disney amusement parks require a mandatory mask for unvaccinated visitors, who are only received with proof of a negative test recently. Wearing a mask and social distance protocols are under discussion again across the ocean as the number of Delta infections increases. However, vaccination is the only solution, experts insist.
–
