Elsevier

Safety Science

Volume 139, July 2021, 105243
Safety Science

Review
Re-opening live events and large venues after Covid-19 ‘lockdown’: Behavioural risks and their mitigations

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2021.105243Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Highlights

  • Mass gatherings where shared identity is high risk spreading virus to wider networks.

  • Travelling to venue may be a source of greater problems than gathering at the event.

  • Mitigations include ventilation, low density, face-coverings, handsanitizing.

  • Crowd psychology provides tools for supporting safer practices at live events.

Abstract

This article reviews the behavioural risks and possible mitigations for re-opening large venues for sports and music events when Covid-19 infection rates and hospitalizations begin to decline. We describe the key variables that we suggest will affect public behaviour relevant to the spread of the virus, drawing upon four sources: (1) relevant evidence and recommendations from the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours produced for the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE); (2) research evidence from non-pandemic conditions; (3) research on behaviour during the pandemic; and (4) relevant theory. We first outline some basic risks and a framework for understanding collective behaviour at live events. We then survey some trends in UK public behaviour observed over 2020 and how these might interact with the opening of live events and venues. We present a range of mitigation strategies, based on the framework for collective behaviour and on what is known about non-pharmaceutical (i.e. behavioural) interventions in relation to Covid-19.

Keywords

Live events
Venues
Behavioural science
Covid-19
Psychology
Guidance

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