Coronavirus DK: Reopening the risk of superspreading

Tomorrow, June 8, begins phase 3 of Denmark’s reopening schedule, and the government is recommending that indoor sports and exercise facilities can resume activities (DK). Fitness centers, swimming halls, children’s indoor play areas, and the like have been closed since mid-March. Earlier, this step had been scheduled as part of phase 4, which would begin in August. But since the spread of COVID-19 infections has been low for some time, the government has decided to accelerate the timetable. 

The other political parties agree with the move. “Sports and clubs are bleeding, so it is fortunate that we have reached this stage,” said Orla Østerby, the sports spokesperson for the Conservative Party. “It is good for all age groups that they can move around again.” The various organizations must prepare guidelines for their facilities based on the Health Authority’s general recommendations. The step comes at the same time that the limit on gatherings is being increased from ten to 50 persons.

Health Authority abstains

Concerning the proposal, SSI, the agency responsible for preparedness against infectious diseases, has stated that it is “impossible to make quantitative model calculations (DK) for indoor sports,” partly because there are large variations among different types of sports: for example, the degree of physical contact, the intensity, and the opportunity to clean equipment. Officials from the Sports Federation of Denmark have been impatient to reopen facilities. Morten Mølholm Hansen, the director of the organization says that studies show that the closing of the facilities has had serious consequences for the population: 40 percent of the people who were active in sports have stopped during the coronavirus crisis.

Researchers are doubtful

But some experts are warning (DK) that not everyone should rush back into crowded fitness clubs. Maybe it is better to “wait until the virus is hopefully completely gone before you join a zumba or spinning class if you are elderly or in a high-risk group,” says Thea Kølsen Fischer, head of research at North Zealand Hospital. The problem is that when your pulse speeds up, you breathe deeply, and the infection can easily spread in group activities. Other researchers agree. “It’s hard for me to see how you can make an infection-free fitness center,” says Christian Wejse of Aarhus University Hospital, adding the reopening offers especially good conditions for superspreaders.

Potential antiracist superspreading

Health researchers are also warning about another activity that will take place today, a demonstration against police brutality (DK) in the US occasioned by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Some 8,000 people on Facebook have indicated interest in attending the event, which has been organized by Black Lives Matter and will begin at the American Embassy in the Østerbro district of Copenhagen. 

With a large number of people close together, chanting or yelling, “It is actually a type of activity that we should avoid completely in order to prevent another outbreak of the epidemic,” says Allan Randrup Thomsen, Professor of Virology at University of Copenhagen. But according to Danish law, political events are exempt from the ban on large gatherings, so the police cannot stop or break up a group of demonstrators unless the event becomes violent. Similar demonstrations against racism in the US took place earlier in the week. Some 2,500 people gathered in Aarhus on Wednesday, including the mayor, and demonstrations have also been held in smaller cities around the country.