Concerts May Not Return Until Fall 2021, a Health Expert Warns
A recent New York Times Magazine article featured a panel of five health experts.
The experts discussed when life in the United States could go back to normal.
One expert, Zeke Emanuel, believes that large-scale gatherings like concerts won't be able to be held until fall 2021.
Social distancing is one of the best measures to help fight the current coronavirus outbreak, and while (most) people have been complying with the call to stay home, many are still wondering when we'll be able to return to some semblance of normalcy.
To answer those questions, The New York Times Magazine recently asked a panel of five experts about how and when the United States could ease the current social distancing and stay-at-home measures that have been put in place. There was a general consensus that the return to work and school could take place in the fall, but it would be gradual, and it would later be followed by slowly opening up other spaces like restaurants.
What remains unclear is what will happen when it comes to large-scale gatherings like conferences, sporting events, and graduations, but one leading expert believes that concerts and other gatherings shouldn't be held until fall 2021. Zeke Emanuel is vice provost for global initiatives and director of the Healthcare Transformation Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, and he explained how the country could reopen:
"Restarting the economy has to be done in stages, and it does have to start with more physical distancing at a work site that allows people who are at lower risk to come back. Certain kinds of construction, or manufacturing or offices, in which you can maintain six-foot distances are more reasonable to start sooner. Larger gatherings—conferences, concerts, sporting events—when people say they’re going to reschedule this conference or graduation event for October 2020, I have no idea how they think that’s a plausible possibility. I think those things will be the last to return. Realistically we’re talking fall 2021 at the earliest."
While the news that you might not be able to attend your favorite artist's concert for over a year is probably unsettling, there are still some measures that need to be taken (a national shelter-in-place policy, faster testing, and contact tracing) before we'll be able to gather large numbers of people in one place.
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