BERLIN – Germany held a pop concert on Saturday to see how those present could spread coronavirus if they had it.
German researchers studying COVID-19 captured part of a Leipzig arena with volunteers, collecting data in a “real-life” simulation of a pop concert, but one with strict health and safety controls.
About 1,500 people took part in the experiment conducted by the University Hospital in Halle, who each took a coronavirus test beforehand, tested negative and had to wear protective masks throughout the day’s tests.
Researchers have provided each volunteer with contact persons to record their routes into the arena and track the path of the aerosols – the small particles that could carry the virus – they emit as they mingle and chat. Fluorescent disinfectants were used to mark which surfaces were most affected during the mock concert.
German pop singer Tim Bendzko appeared on stage to so realistically create a reaction from the crowd for three scenarios.
Afterwards, he said he had expected the day to feel more sterile and like an experiment, but that the crowd was in for the concert.
“We really had a lot of fun,” he said. “We have survived this summer’s drive-in concerts and in that respect this is a first step towards normality for us.”
During the first scenario, which simulated the beginning of a pandemic, the concert-goers were kept close together in the room without social distance. In the second, the researchers instituted hygiene measures and greater social distances between the volunteers. In the third, a distance of 5 feet between participants was strictly maintained.
Stefan Moritz, who led the study, said researchers had only about a third of the volunteers on board, partly because many Germans were still away on summer vacation and partly because of fears about joining. even with the safety precautions. But he said the experiment went well.
“We are pleased with the figures,” he told reporters. “We have good data quality.”
The results of the study are expected in four to six weeks, he said.
In general, Germany has been praised for its handling of the pandemic with its rapid response and robust testing. It has so far registered as many as 9,267 confirmed virus deaths, one quarter of the UK virus deaths.
But numbers have recently increased, and Germany’s disease control center reported 2,034 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, the first time the daily national increase of 2,000 has subsided since the end of April.
The Robert Koch Institute said coronavirus outbreaks are reported in nursing homes, hospitals, schools and “especially among travelers and in the context of religious or family events.”
“The trend is very upbeat,” the agency said.
The 16 states of Germany are in the process of restoring classroom instruction in schools. The potential risks of virus clusters building up in educational institutions and then spreading to families and further into society has been a matter of great concern.
In Berlin, one of the first states to return, at least 41 schools reported this week that students as teachers were infected, and hundreds of them were quarantined.
