— BroBible (@BroBible) April 11, 2020
Ann, punch me in the face. Big time yikes. Huge L this morning for us sport-lovin’ folk. According to Zeke Emanuel, the director of the Healthcare Transformation Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, big public gatherings like sporting events and concerts cannot be safely resumed until the Fall of 2021 “at the earliest”, which is about 18 months from now.
Emanuel was part of an expert panel assembled by the New York Times on life after the COVID-19 pandemic. The problem, according to Emanuel, is “You can’t just flip a switch and open the whole of society up. It’s just not going to work. It’s too much. The virus will definitely flare back to the worst levels.”
“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.” [via Consequence of Sound]
This certainly isn’t a new idea, as those in the healthcare community — like Dr. Anthony Fauci – have been clear that our current global problem will not be completely dealt with until a vaccine is made and mass-produced. Hopefully, similar to some of the recent developments we’ve seen with the projection models, these dates are being over-estimated out of an abundance of caution. Cross those fingers, everyone, it’s all we can do.
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Eric is a New York City-based writer who still isn’t quite sure how he’s allowed to have this much fun for a living and will tell anyone who listens that Gotham City is canonically in New Jersey. Follow him on Twitter @eric_ital for movie and soccer takes or contact him eric@brobible.com