This was the scene at Virginia Tech less than 24 hours ago.

[Bleacher Creature]

I get that the virus isn't as contagious outdoors, but I wouldn't put money on there being in-person classes for much longer.

Link to tweet

[msongs]

1. looks like a pic by Seurat nt

[ShazzieB]

19. Or one of those "magic eye" things.

[jaxexpat]

20. Kinda symbolic, really.

What are faces in a crowd but little dabs of color?

[JustADumbFireman]

43. Haaaa!!!! Brilliant!

It actually does...

[LisaL]

2. It certainly can infect when there are so many people so close to each other.

NT

[aeromanKC]

3. MAGAt Rona petri dish

Football season will not be kind to anti-vaxxer's.

[Shanti Shanti Shanti]

5. All 30 Major League Baseball teams are at 100% full fan capacity, no problems there I've heard

[LisaL]

6. Well, there certainly is a problem somewhere, or US wouldn't have over 100,000 cases per day.

Approaching 200,000 per day now.

[brush]

7. You think MLB cares, or would announce the infection rate...

two weeks after their games where most are unmasked and sitting shoulder-to-shoulder?

The teams just want the revenue. Of course some infections follow. See the high spike rates of delta.

[Tomconroy]

11. Are hospitals, state and local heath officials and the CDC

Also in on the conspiracy to cover up baseball Covid infections?

[LisaL]

41. We are approaching 200,000 per day.

Those people are getting infected somewhere.
Some are likely getting infected at those mass events.

[Shanti Shanti Shanti]

56. College students are bathing in each others bodily fluids every night, more likely there

[LisaL]

60. Covid is an airborne disease.

Everywhere where people gather in large numbers, transmission can occur.

[Shanti Shanti Shanti]

63. Hook-ups are face to face, pregame party, game, after game bar hopping, full of lathered up kids

[Tomconroy]

70. We know where they are getting infected: indoors. We know very little about

Outdoor infections because they seem to occur so rarely.

[Liberty Belle]

76. Hello? Sturgis Motorcycle Rally was outdoors - one of the worst super-spreader events.

[Tomconroy]

77. There are bars and restaurants in the vicinity of

Sturgis. People go somewhere at night. Very unlikely you get Covid riding around on your motorcycle.

[paleotn]

68. When a pathogen is as wide spread as Covid Delta....

there are multiple vectors of infection. Narrowing it down to just one can be difficult if not impossible in places like Florida and Texas. Needless to say, packing a stadium for any sporting event right now is asking for a super spreader event, even if it's tough to identify the exact which super spreader event caused someone's infection. Any kind of event where unvaxed people are crammed together is at least reckless if not criminal. Dumb. Very, very dumb.

[ProfessorGAC]

46. MLB Would Get The Numbers....

...just like everyone else. When the departments of health release the data, we would know, and so would MLB.
I don't think they're privy to any more information than you or I.
Actually, I'm a bit surprised that cities with major team spectator sports haven't been viral nirvana. But, here in Illinois, the increased infections in the last several months are heavier, per capita, in more remote areas, than in Chicago & the collar counties. (Where 70% of the people live). So, what we might consider intuitive isn't turning out to be the case.

[Initech]

79. I've been going to games since April.

No problems whatsoever. Are we going to do this for every event now?

[empedocles]

4. VaTech requires vaccination/masks by students [but not for football games]

Virginia Tech issues event requirements for COVID-19 ...
https://vtx.vt.edu/notices/2021/08/unirel-masks-events.html
Aug 25, 2021 · Virginia Tech students and employees are required to be vaccinated in accordance with Presidential Policy Memorandum 317. For indoor public events: Masks are required for all attendees regardless of vaccination status.

[Scary to see maskless football fans]

[GoodRaisin]

8. Get used to it. It's going to be this all over the country every week

now that college football season has started.

[Xavier Breath]

9. Yep. I'm seeing game after game today

where it's a packed house. No one is wearing masks and everyone is asses to elbows.

I miss being in the stands too, but now is not the time to behave irresponsibly.

[tclambert]

21. We're getting over 2,000 new cases per day in Michigan, yet the Big House had 107,000 in Ann Arbor

with maybe one in ten wearing masks.

My conclusion is that America has just given up.

[Xavier Breath]

28. Is UM at least requiring vaccinations for their students?

I assume that no one is stationed at the gates asking for proof of vaccinations from that size of a crowd, but if the student population was "clean" at least that would be something.

I'm one state south of you and we had 6,179 new cases for the 24 hours ending yesterday. It's exploding, and yet we see where our priorities lie as a nation today.

[DemocraticPatriot]

78. Yes, University of Michigan

has mandated vaccines, (as has Michigan State University).

https://record.umich.edu/articles/u-m-will-require-covid-19-vaccination-on-all-campuses/

[NurseJackie]

10. Let's see if Darwin was right...

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

35. Is there any doubt...

...that it's evolution at work?

[ecstatic]

12. I envy them. We're living in 2 different realities

and I want to join their reality so bad. How many of them will get really sick? How many of them will die? How many of them will not catch anything at all? Are these events being studied so that we can have the most up to date, accurate information available?

[hay rick]

31. Reality is a matter of opinion at this time.

Truthfully, I think outdoors risk is trivial. If you are outdoors and vaccinated I believe the risk is probably less than the risk you took if you drove to the event. If you are outdoors and vaccinated, I think adding a mask is useless.

I doubt that these events are being studied and that studying them would provide useful information. Increasing vaccination levels are changing risk. Mutating variants are changing risks. Expanding treatment options are changing hospitalization and mortality risks. Contact tracing is almost impossible for these kinds of events.

[paleotn]

69. I don't. They're idiots.

[Tomconroy]

13. Dr. Ding is a nutritionist. He has no professional experience

In the area of infectious disease.

[StarryNite]

16. I don't think one has to be an infectious disease doctor or scientist

to realize that all those people packed in together yelling and screaming isn't a good idea during this pandemic.

[Tomconroy]

17. In the UK they held a number of 'test' outdoor events in the spring and summer

To determine if outdoor crowd events were safe. Now UK football is being played to packed crowds.

[LisaL]

49. And UK is having a lot of covid infections.

NT

[Wednesdays]

44. What DO the experts say about scenarios like these?

Dr. Fauci, for example?

[IronLionZion]

48. He has 2 doctorates: epidemiology and nutrition

Sure, he can be a bit alarmist but he was right about the dangers of COVID pandemic back in January 2020 when his peers dismissed him.

[moondust]

14. Yelling and screaming

at the top of their lungs.

[Traildogbob]

24. And waving towels to spread the soup.

The Aversge cost per ticket is $75.00. And many stadiums hold just over 100,000. $10 a draft beer, food is outrageous. And ya think ANY college gonna give that up? Gotta pay those coaches.

[Traildogbob]

27. And beginning next week.

All college games, Pro Football games High school games and MLB games, all with packed stadiums. Then all schools open and ya may get killed if ya make them kids wear a mask.
Invest is real estate for grave sites. Casket makers gotta be smiling. Is there casket stock at Wall Street. Thanksgiving will be a day of morning for lost families and bankruptcy from hospital stays. MAGA.

[IronLionZion]

52. There's a lumber shortage

so caskets are pricey these days

[Skittles]

15. I wish people cared as much about democracy

as they do about stupid football games

[ancianita]

18. Best post of the day. HT

[Moebym]

81. +1000 n/t

[rainin]

22. You know this guts healthcare workers. They already feel unseen and uncared for.

These gatherings will eventually lead some to give up, I predict. They're already asking why they should continue to risk death and risk their family's health. It's so discouraging.

[Texaswitchy]

25. No way the medical personal can keep up with all the sick.

There is coming a time when people like this at the games or wherever will just die.

Maybe in field tents or a home.

The funeral homes are already overwhelmed.

Mass Graves.

The Spanish Flu repeated.

No shots, no masks no hospital.

Get prepared.

More people are getting the vaccine everyday but it is to little to late.

The horse is out of the barn.

[totodeinhere]

32. I agree with everything you said except that I don't think that vaccines are too little too late.

We could still get a handle on this pandemic if everyone who is eligible would get vaccinated. It is not too late to do that. The virus could be under control in a few weeks.

[Texaswitchy]

34. It takes both shots and two or three months for the antibodies

And there will be those who will not take the shots.

The virus has a lot of bodies to play with.

[totodeinhere]

39. Yes, I already said it will take a few weeks. And I said "if" everybody gets vaccnated.

I did not say they would get vaccinated. I said if they get vaccinated.

[Texaswitchy]

36. We should have this under control all ready.

Damn anti-vac people will not let it.

They have to die off first.

[totodeinhere]

40. Yes, it should be under control already. But the things is, it will not kill all of them.

A lot of them will still be around infecting other people.

[Texaswitchy]

45. I know.

If we could get the kids their shots that will.help.

How in the hell did this country get so many stupid people.

[totodeinhere]

54. You are right. I did not realize how many stupid people live in this country until this

fiasco started.

[Texaswitchy]

58. Lack of critical thinking.

Needing to be told how to think.

[VGNonly]

26. Beer and Circus

It's going to get worse...very worse.

[Texaswitchy]

30. Even if a million people a day get the shots it takes time.

My friend works in a mall security office watching the security cameras.

A big mall.

Very few masks.

Little kids and babies open to infection.

She is thinking getting another job.

All she sees is the walking dead.

[totodeinhere]

33. It will take time but people still do need to get vaccinated.

That is the only way to eventually get it under control but yes, it would take time.

[totodeinhere]

29. The same happened Friday night at the Utah football game in Salt Lake City.

The stadium was packed and few attendees wore masks. The university said its hands were tied due to a law passed by the legislature that outlawed mask mandates.

[Diraven]

47. Same thing at the Tennessee game

Mask mandates and checking vaccinated status against the law

[former9thward]

37. There have been non-stop predictions about Covid being spread at these events.

Any of them come true? Sturgis? Nope. 178 cases out of 525,000 people attending. As of today South Dakota continues to have an average death rate of less than 1 a day.

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-08-30/sturgis-motorcycle-rally-coronavirus-infections-rising

Hundreds of professional baseball games played with millions in attendance. No covid problems. I don't foresee any from college or professional football either. I attended a game two days ago, almost no masks, with 50,000 people. I am not concerned about it. I'm vaccinated.

[LisaL]

42. Covid is being spread far and wide in this country.

Maybe you haven't noticed, but hospitals are overflowing with cases.
We are back to over 1000 people dying per day.

[former9thward]

50. And where did they get it from?

Outside?

[LisaL]

51. You tell me.

NT

[former9thward]

53. I did.

And so did science.

[LisaL]

59. Science says no such thing.

"Experts said transmission at the beach gathering showed people should still be vigilant when outdoors."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-06/nsw-covid-delta-outdoor-transmission-risk/100353394

[former9thward]

64. LOL

Let's see what this non peer reviewed , non science article says:

NSW Health has so far reported no specific outdoor transmission of the virus — apart from what it called a "crowded outdoor cafe" — at the start of the Bondi outbreak.

Professor McLaws said transmission could have occurred if people drove others to the beach or at the gathering itself.

"Carpooling is very dangerous because a car doesn't have great airflow, even if you've not got the air-conditioning unit on recycle … and you're right next to somebody and none of them would have been wearing a mask inside the car," she said.

"Of course they could have been infected on the beach having a hug or getting close to each other to have a chat or a whisper or laughing — it's all very possible outside."

So he blames non outdoor things -- being inside cars and hugs -- for the spread.

There have been countless outdoor events since Covid/Delta and this is the best example?

[LisaL]

65. It's one of the examples.

At least in Australia or New Zealand, someone can figure out where someone got infected.
US is just a covid infected soup, how do you expect to know where someone got covid here? The possibilities are endless.
No surprise we are leading the world in number of infections.

[LymphocyteLover]

57. I agree the fears are overblown about this sort of thing especially if it's in a more vaccinated

populations.

I remember pictures of Lollapalooza being so crowded and eveyrone freaked out but actually they checked vaccination and hardly any cases showed up.

Eric Fingl-Ding is kind a a fear monger anyway.

OTOH I thought the Sturgis numbers were worse than what you said and it's hard to do contact tracing since so many people come from out of state so the local numbers don't mean much either.

[DFW]

38. Any death from Covid19 contracted at an event like this

I could only classify as a suicide.

[Jon King]

55. Suicide is not really the proper term.

If a motorcycle rider deliberately goes 100 mph into a wall, that is suicide. If a motorcycle driver races back and forth to work everyday, no helmet, zipping in and out of traffic, then gets into an accident and dies....not suicide, just extreme recklessness.

Suicide is the result of tremendous emotional or physical pain. What these people are doing is not suicide, they are reckless, ignorant, arrogant, gullible, and/or ultra religious fundamentalists....all of these people would have various mixtures of these things....but they are not suicidal.

[DFW]

80. Technically, you're correct, of course

I just don’t think “negligent suicide” is a widely accepted concept yet.

[paleotn]

72. That makes perfect sense to me.

[joetheman]

61. When a football game has more importance than the life of mother. nt

[LisaL]

62. Or a teacher.

Sure most of those attending are young, but soon they will be a in classroom.
Somebody has to teach them. And those people aren't necessarily young and healthy.

[PatrickforB]

66. Seems kind of risky to me... n/t

[LisaL]

71. Virginia's governor is a Democrat.

NT

[BlueLucy]

73. I somehow commented on the wrong thread.

That's strange. Anyway, Thank you.

[meadowlander]

74. Brewing up the FAFO variant.

[paleotn]

75. Lots of angst on this thread....

Sorry, folks. We all wish things were back to normal, but if wishes where horses, then beggars would ride. Covid doesn't give two shits about what we wish and until the bulk of us get our collective heads out of our asses and consistently do the things necessary to get this damn virus under control, we're collectively getting nowhere. Packing a stadiums with a mix of vaxed and unvaxed yokels is most definitely NOT helping. However, it is helping Covid to breed mutations that evade what vaccines we do have.

[North Shore Chicago]

82. I DID see

one young lady worker with a mask! Bet she took some shit for it too.