Mass gatherings restarting

[Pugdoglife]

The government has given the go ahead for a horse racing event to take place in Doncaster over four days, with up to 6200 visitors each day. The government are using this as a test case. Is this really a good idea just as schools reopen? Wouldn't it be better to monitor the situation before taking two big steps at once?

Better to open up lots of other things so they can be blamed rather than the opening of schools without any real safety measures, I suppose

When are the Doncaster races?

Clearly they have forgotten what happened after Cheltenham.

They’ve told the hospitality industry that they will be able to reopen on 1st October subject to what happens with test cases so I guess they’re pushing on with it even though the timing feels off. So many businesses (venues, hotels etc) are betting on being able to start up again in October but I’m not sure it will happen - if/when hospital cases go up again in October will people really be up for going to events again?

I’ve been invited to be a delegate at a test event in Scotland mid-Sept, not sure if I’ll go though.

@NotDonna

When are the Doncaster races?

9-12th September

A whole different demographic will be at the races.

Teachers, students and a very small number of parents will be at the races - and they will mostly be local. If the meet leeds to a spike it will be very clear where it has come from.

@RealityExistsInTheHumanMind

A whole different demographic will be at the races.

Teachers, students and a very small number of parents will be at the races - and they will mostly be local. If the meet leeds to a spike it will be very clear where it has come from.

It depends whether any hospitality venues associated with the races will be open.

The issue with Cheltenham races was not primarily at the races themselves - ie outside watching the horses. It was in the bars, in the hotels, in the pubs round the town, in the nightclubs etc etc. Those infected were not just racegoers - they were also young bartenders, hotel staff, police etc.

Just had a look at what the website for this event. I’d hoped that a condition of attending is that you have to test negative before attending and that there’s follow up testing of everyone in the days after but it appears not to be the case. So they’ll be relying on people showing symptoms to get a test, comply with track and trace and self isolate. Doesn’t account for anyone who is asymptomatic though.

There have been some test events taking place in Germany where everyone is tested beforehand, they wear trackers to show how they move around the venue, who they interact with etc and they’re using ultraviolet light and some kind of fogger machines to show high touch areas and the flow of air. It’s inside so a bit different but surely this much more scientific approach is a proper way of piloting a mass gathering so that we can actually understand what’s high/low risk and apply what’s learnt for future? Sounds like for Doncaster they’re just going ahead and hoping for the best. If there isn’t a spike it’ll be deemed okay and if there is a spike then what?

Are they trying to force a second wave? Why all of this at the same time as schools? Surely they should space things out a bit to see where the land lies. I just can't understand it. A large racing event took place in the US recently and it seeded outbreaks all over the place. I despair

I despair too. Why is an event such as racing deemed necessary. Just can't understand why they would do this right now it we are all supposed to be avoiding a second wave.

@cantkeepawayforever
You are right, that hadn't occurred to me on this occasion.

It will all depend on how visitors are recorded. It could be strongly tracked and traced and provide some much needed info. Or it could be a total fuck up. I hope it's the former but I'm not holding my breath.

@Spinakker

I despair too. Why is an event such as racing deemed necessary. Just can't understand why they would do this right now it we are all supposed to be avoiding a second wave.

My teenage son says it's because it's Tory cronies who will profit from it. I don't think he's far short of the mark.

Good the fear is ridiculous now yes I know people who have died and had it but I also know someone who is terminally ill now due to fear and suicide !!! We have to live with it you don't have to go

Similar numbers of people have been gathering at theme parks for weeks already.

Still waiting for the second wave from VE day and the BLM marches. Oh wait...

My teenage son says it's because it's Tory cronies who will profit from it. I don't think he's far short of the mark.

He’s likely right. Several Tories and their mates (Dido Harding for example) have links to Cheltenham RaceS which went ahead when it shouldn’t have. No surprise it’s a race meet that’s been given the go ahead so soon.

It's simply because the hospitality and entertainment industry need to start opening up properly. So many people rely on it for their income. Many business have gone bust, and many more are on the brink already. The country can not afford to keep bailing them out. The unemployment levels are going to continue to rise until everything opens up and the more unemployment the higher the risks to those who are poor and/or vulnerable.

Ooh. I guess it was only Tories gathering at the beaches we all saw in the news during the heatwave and also must be Tories at the theme parks too. Oh and cinemas and theatres etc. Let’s not forget about the tubes and buses to where there’s loads of people too. Yeah right.

Get a grip.

The virus couldn’t care less what political party you belong to.

The test events are about reopening the economy and are/have been across different sectors. Get real people.

Here at the bottom is then clearly the list of torie only events.

www.gov.uk/government/news/new-pilots-announced-for-return-of-spectators-to-elite-sport

They are also having fans at a football match i believe. As a 'test'. I agree they should do one thing at a bloody time.

"It's simply because the hospitality and entertainment industry need to start opening up properly. "

But a race meeting wouldn't help with this, the bar staff work on a casual basis, they are not employed on a full time basis. The other people working in racing for example maintenance of the grounds, working with horses etc have had to continue doing that through lockdown anyway, do this will do little to get the economy rolling.

Other activities which keep the hospitality industry going are still not happening, such as weddings where numbers are still limited. Many hotels rely on big weddings with lots of people staying over, eating and drinking there etc. The risk of 100+ people at a wedding seems much smaller than 6000+ at the races, where people will be drinking (often to excess) shouting/cheering, hugging in celebration etc. Behaviour at the races is very different to behaviour watching snooker.

I'm not saying these events should not happen ever, the timing just seems off when it happens at the same time as schools reopening, when we haven't had chance to monitor what impact that has on numbers yet.

That sounds really good what Germany are doing.

I went to a theme park last week with the kids and was a bit surprised a how many people were there - stupidly I'd thought numbers would be restricted but it seemed pretty busy with plenty of not very SD queuing. I expect races wouldn't be that dissimilar.

One race weekend pales into insignificance compared to thousands of weddings of 100+ people. Think about the numbers and the travel. Attending weddings from all over the country, mixing closely and then returning home is worse than one race meet.

Even 1000 weddings of 100 people mixing is 100,000 people in one weekend.

On another thread there was a link to the 'concert study' by UNI Halle - I can't find an English language link, sorry - but they do three concerts under controlled circumstances (pre-tested visitors, different measures of SD / masks etc.) to see what happens.