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March Madness Gatherings Helped Spread Covid-19
Though some transmission certainly occurred at private gatherings and viewing parties at local establishments, poor mask-wearing at the actual games likely played a role too.
After March Madness had to be cancelled in 2020, fans were undoubtedly excited to see its return in 2021, just a few months after the first Covid-19 vaccines had become available. But the vaccines weren’t available to everyone by March 2021, so venues hosting the NCAA men’s basketball tournament games required masks, encouraged social distancing, and capped attendance at lower limits to reduce the risk of Covid transmission.
Alas, a new study reveals that the tournament still played a role in transmission upticks, at least in the counties where participating teams were from. The jump in local infection rates for those counties didn’t last long — about a month — but the new research shows that big indoor events like March Madness games remain superspreader threats without widespread vaccination, even when officials are doing their best to reduce infections with other mitigation measures. The new study couldn’t show whether the increased infections occurred because of game attendance — where mask-wearing compliance wasn’t great, according to another…
