Perceived importance of pandemic interventions for attending cultural events – findings from Germany

Abstract

Background During the first waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, many cultural and sporting events were held without spectators or had to be cancelled. Therefore, several containment strategies to provide requirements for safe events were developed and tested. Nonetheless, every second (50.7%) is afraid of becoming infected on an event. We therefore investigated which hygiene and containment measures are perceived to be important from the visitor’s point of view and thus might increase subjective sense of safety. Methods This online study was carried out in November 2020. A total of 1,004 persons, who regularly attended events before the pandemic, took part in the study. The importance of different hygiene and containment measures was evaluated using a 5-point Likert-scale (1 “unimportant” to 5 “extremely important”). Potential statistical differences in socio-demographical aspects (age, gender, net disposable income for leisure activities) and attendance on events were tested with analyses of variance. Results Participants perceived the use of disinfectant (M = 4.10) as the most important element of containment strategies, followed by transparent information on the hygiene strategy (M = 4.00), reduced occupancy (M = 3.98), and optimized ventilation (M = 3.97). Body temperature measurement at the entrance (M = 3.27), a negative SARS-CoV-2 test (M = 3.11), completion of a health questionnaire (M = 3.05), and abandoning breaks and catering (M = 2.98) were considered as less important. Analyses of group differences in socio-demographical aspects found abandoning breaks and catering to be more important to men than to women. This strategy is also more important to people aged 66 and above than to younger age groups (e.g., age 20–40). For women, the use of disinfectant is considerably more important. No other significant differences exist. Conclusion Combining relevant measures appears to be important to provide a safe containment strategy. Measures aimed at positively influencing people’s sense of safety do not fully correspond to researched knowledge of effectiveness. There are also target group-specific differences in the rating of measures, which should be considered while preparing containment strategies. To describe the dynamic development of changes in subjective rating of containment strategies, continuing research is needed.

Airborne infections related to virus aerosol contamination at indoor cultural venues: Recommendations on how to minimize

“…Another important point concerns the question of how visitors prepare for participation in an event, what preventive measures they take and what expectations they have about the organizer. This aspect was examined as part of an online study [73]. The use of disinfectants was mentioned as the most important element of containment, followed by transparent information on the hygiene strategy, reduced crowds, optimized ventilation, body temperature measurement at the entrance, negative SARS‐CoV‐2 test, and filling out a health questionnaire.…”

“…Modeling study [53] Sociocultural events Non-randomized controlled study [67] Chorus rehearsal Estimation of infectious quanta [56] Wind instruments Risk of spreading infectious particles [57] Concert hall Evaluation of the infection risk using mannequins [58,59] Indoor sports and cultural events simulation study to estimate the burden of disease under conditions of controlled epidemics [60] Mass gatherings Effectiveness of public health measures [68] Mass sporting and cultural events Use of interviews and questionnaires to describe the potential public health impact [70] Singing event Evaluation of safer singing practices [62] Live concert Randomized controlled trial of attendees [63] Indoor live concert Screening of attendees for SARS-CoV-2 antigen before the event [65,66] Indoor live events Measurement of CO 2 and viral RNA [69] Indoor live events High resolution CO 2 monitoring [82] Concert events Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 transmission using contract-tracing data [61] Carnival Seroepidemiological observational study [72] Visitor's point of view Online study with persons, who regularly attended events before the pandemic [73] Sport events Assessment of the suitability and feasibility of a hygiene concept [71] halls have grandstands, where the stage can also be in the middle. The third phase begins after the end of the performance and ends when all guests have left the venue.…”

The Agile Co-production and Evaluation framework for developing public health interventions, messaging and guidance

“…For example, an online experiment found that adding a single sentence informing participants that there was still a chance that they could be infectious significantly improved participant understanding of the risk of transmitting COVID-19 following a negative test result ( 30 ). Online studies evaluating perceived importance of mitigation measures among individuals attending cultural events informed implementation of infection control polices at mass events ( 31 ).…”

Emerging Venue Considerations for Event Management: The Case of Ireland

“…Therefore, increasing attendee intentions to undertake prescribed mitigation measures could be enhanced through clear and effective communication. This is underlined by researchers [45] who determined that providing transparent information about the hygiene strategy are crucially important factors for event attendees. In a wider tourism industry context, the provision of accurate and consistent information communicated to tourists through appropriate channels are crucial for tourist compliance with appropriate biosecurity measures [46].…”