You can safely go to an indoor concert or show while following this protocol according to a study in the Lancet Journal.

I’m not ready to go to a restaurant, or a broadway show or an indoor concert yet is a common statement I have been hearing from many people.

Part of this is that with covid-19, we have all been through something that was traumatic and some of us lost loved ones due to the virus.   Others are deluged with news reports of the delta or Omicron variant which are not as bad as the original covid-19 virus apparently.

Part PTSD and part rational thought, the truth is that society is heading toward normalization.  Part of that is going back into a movie or broadway theater or seeing live music performed.

Is it safe to go?

NYC has gone so far as to make showing your vaccination status when you go into a theater, concert, or restaurant mandatory.  While this is likely to reduce risk, health professionals have a better understanding how to treat the virus and fewer people are getting gravely ill requiring hospitalization.   Another truth is that the vaccine effectiveness was oversold and people are more likely to contract the virus even while vaccinated and may transmit it to others who are vaccinated and are not likely to become very ill.   Boosters may offer more protection but those of you who have had covid-19 after being vaccinated already have additional protection and whether a booster is needed for those people is debatable.

Broadway and indoor concerts are back but health concerns linger.  Can we go safely?   According to the Journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases, yes.

A randomized, controlled SPRING trial was done on attendees at a live indoor concert held in the Accor Arena on May 29, 2021, in Paris, France. Participants, aged 18–45 years, recruited via a dedicated website, had no comorbidities, COVID-19 symptoms, or recent case contact, and had had a negative rapid antigen diagnostic test within 3 days before the concert. Masking was required for the study participants and a curfew was set at 9 PM for those who attended the show. This is not the first time researchers were able to show that concert-going can be safe in a pandemic according to a Spanish run study.

Study participants were then retested several days after the concert and they found that the day 7 RT-PCR was positive for eight of the 3917 attendees.   The French Ministry of Health concluded that Participation in a large, indoor, live gathering without physical distancing was not associated with increased SARS-CoV-2–transmission risk, provided a comprehensive preventive intervention was implemented. You can check out the study data here.

How do our covid -19 protocols compare with what study participants did?

While it is true they were for the purposes of the study masked, curfewed, and tested both before and after the concert, in NYC, people who attend entertainment venues are required to mask up and show they were vaccinated which reduces risk.

There have not been any reports of outbreaks at concerts among attendees although some concert tours and broadway plays have been sidelined for a week or two if infections occurred to their staff, musicians or actors.

My opinion is based on the best available evidence.

It is my opinion that if you follow the guidelines, the risks of covid-19 are low, and if you are vaccinated, lower.   If you have had a booster or had covid-19, you are likely to be even more protected against current variants.   During normal times, people would contract viruses and some people might fall ill for a few days.   With the current covid-19 environment, covid-19 may have taken the place of the flu in this regard, with each variant being less harmful than the last.

Bottom line; it is safe to go to indoor entertainment and you can reduce community infection by masking, being vaccinated, and eating right, and not being vitamin D deficient.