Coronavirus DK: Corona football and free-range pets

On Sunday the number of people hospitalized for Covid-19 rose for the first time in a week. The trend has been steadily downward since April 1. The increase prompted the question of whether Denmark is beginning to see the consequences of the relaxation (DK) of restrictions around two weeks ago. The change is insignificant, says Søren Riis Paludan, Professor of Virology and Immunology at Aarhus University: “People feared that after the reopening the curve would fly up again, but that hasn’t been the case. With the degree of opening we have now, the spread is under control. We should be ready to open further.”

Scientific evidence for safe soccer

A ray of hope for a return of the national pastime has appeared. Researchers at Aarhus University have determined that soccer matches in Superliga (DK), the highest professional league in Denmark, can safely resume. Allan Randrup Thomsen, Professor of Immunology and Microbiology at the University of Copenhagen, concurs: “Football [as the sport is called outside of North America] does not pose a real infection risk.” The Health Authority considers that there is a risk only if people are within two meters of each other for 15 minutes. Using that parameter, the researchers estimated, on the basis of an analysis of 14 Superliga matches, that if one player is infected, the other individual players will be within infection range for an average of only one minute and 28 seconds in a match.

That was welcome news for Claus Thomsen, the head of the Superliga association, which has been working on plans to play under special guidelines that will minimize the danger of infections. If the matches resume, they will take place without spectators in the stadiums. The 88-second figure applies only to matches with one infected player, however. With two of them, players would be exposed to the virus for an average of about three minutes; with three infected players, for four and a half minutes. Another study from Italy and Germany offers a cautionary message. It concludes that elite athletes are subject to an unusually high risk because of their heavy breathing during extreme exertion. Neither study has been peer-reviewed.

No-touch football

Meanwhile, the Danish Football Union, the overall governing body for soccer in Denmark, has prepared a set of “corona rules” (DK) – guidelines that will allow local clubs to play according to the pandemic restrictions. The rules are rather extensive: No more than ten people can practice together, including the coach; players must always keep two meters’ distance from one another; touching the ball only with the feet except by the goalkeeper; liberal use of sanitizer; no use of locker rooms and showers. It will not be the familiar rough-and-tumble contact sport as before.

“It’s better than nothing,” says Tom Helligsøe, the head of the IF Lyseng club. Others think the rules are too strict, for example sanitizing all the balls and other equipment. “How can a ball infect you if you’re not allowed to head it, pick it up or trap it with your body?” asks Jan Busk, the head of the Frederiksberg Alliance, which has 2,000 members. The rules need to approved by the Health Authority before the clubs can resume activities.

No to American pet quarantine

After dogs and cats in the US have been found to be infected with the corona virus, the CDC has issued social distancing rules for pets (DK): Keep cats indoors; keep dogs on a tight leash, at least two meters’ from other dogs as well as humans; limit contact with them. But they aren’t necessary in Denmark, says Randrup Thomsen, who is consulted by journalists about pandemic measures almost daily. There are still no reports that pets have infected people. Nevertheless, if you are in high-risk group, adds Thomsen, you can consider keeping your cat indoors, although that may be difficult for a cat that is used to being out. “But the most important thing is not to let them lick your face. In principle, you should never let them do that because they can infect you with all kinds of diseases.”