There are 2 big indoor concerts at PNC Arena this week. Why that’s a problem
As COVID-19 continues its surge in the United States, many performers are insisting on stricter rules to ensure the safety of guests and crews.
Musicians Jason Isbell, Foo Fighters, Phish and Maroon 5 have all said they will only perform in venues where attendees show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test. Just this week, comedian Patton Oswalt canceled upcoming tour dates in two states because the venues would not comply with a similar request.
Locally, music venues Red Hat Amphitheater (outdoor), Motorco Music Hall, Cat’s Cradle and Pour House all have policies that only admit patrons who show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test.
But there are no such restrictions for this weekend’s two indoor Luke Combs concerts taking place Friday and Saturday at the PNC Arena in Raleigh.
Required proof of vaccination for individual shows, according to the PNC Arena website, is at the discretion of the performer.
Combs, a North Carolina native who attended Appalachian State University, just played a show at App State’s outdoor football venue, Kidd Brewer Stadium, last Saturday. His tour does not set conditions requiring proof of vaccination or negative COVID tests.
Masks required at Luke Combs’ PNC shows
PNC arena will require face masks for all entering the facility, per an ordinance from the City of Raleigh. Attendees are expected to wear masks except when actively eating or drinking.
But if the rest of life is any indication, there is unlikely to be much enforcement of that.
And all of this is concerning to health officials.
Here’s why:
▪ The delta variant, the mutation of the coronavirus currently sweeping through the country, is more than twice as contagious as the original strain.
▪ North Carolina reported 3,790 people hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide on Wednesday, nearly double the number from a month ago.
▪ COVID patients in intensive care in NC hospitals reached 900 for the first time about two weeks ago, and the number has stayed over 900 for nearly two weeks.
▪ The CDC says that the delta variant accounts for more than 97% of all sequenced virus in North Carolina.
▪ Unvaccinated people are at much higher risk for catching and getting sicker from the delta variant, and only about 61% of people in North Carolina have been fully vaccinated.
▪ And finally, singing is thought to be one of the most efficient ways to spread virus-infected droplets into the air, where they linger in crowded indoor spaces. An arena full of maskless people singing along with Combs to his song “When It Rains It Pours” is problematic.
Taking ‘careful measure of the risks’
Of course, everyone hopes that doesn’t happen, and wearing a mask — a good, snug-fitting mask, during the whole show — will go a long way in protecting concert-goers.
But is it enough?
We asked Dr. David Alain Wohl, a professor at the Institute of Global Health and Infectious Diseases at UNC-Chapel Hill, for his thoughts on attending crowded indoor concerts right now.
Masking will help reduce transmission, Wohl told us, but it won’t eliminate the risks.
“During a time when COVID-19 is reaching new highs, including cases (infection), hospitalizations, and deaths, we have to take careful measure of the risks involved with any gathering,” Wohl said.
“Indoor entertainment events are often crowded, and while masking reduces the risk of transmission, it does not completely eliminate it — especially when those with the hyper-infectious delta variant are shouting or singing and sending out a cloud of virus.
“Plus, we all know that many people wear their masks improperly or try to pass off simple bandanas as a mask.”
We all want ‘normal,’ but we aren’t there yet
Concerts aren’t the only social outlets people are craving right now, after more than a year of pandemic-induced deprivation.
The release of pent-up exuberance is on display nowhere better than at a college football game, where fans have crowded into stadiums to stand shoulder-to-shoulder (and nearly all without masks) and scream and cheer themselves hoarse.
Even though those events take place outside, health officials have still cautioned against the crowded nature of the mostly mask-less events.
“Events that have food and drink, minimal masking and squash everyone in are simply asking for trouble right now,” Dr. Cameron Wolfe, an infectious disease specialist at Duke University School of Medicine, told The News & Observer in response to a question about the safety of attending a football game.
But the reality of the current situation — increases in cases, hospitalizations and deaths — means this is no time for pretending, says Wohl.
“We can wish we are at a point where we can return to normal and not be in the midst of a very serious surge that is filling our ICUs well beyond capacity, but that would be pretending and make this crisis worse,” he said.
“Right now, with so many around us unvaccinated, we can’t have a laid-back attitude to avoiding transmission and have hospitals not filled with people whose lungs are filled with fluid struggling to breathe.”
This story was originally published September 9, 2021 at 3:33 PM.
