Lollapalooza Brazil should require Covid-19 test on entry, experts say

Less than a month to go return of Lollapalooza to the Interlagos Race Track, in São Paulo. According to the organizers, up to 100,000 people can pass through the festival daily between March 25th and 27th.

The Friday and Saturday of the event are sold out. This already guarantees that this will be the event in Brazil with the largest audience since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Brazil is still struggling with the impacts of the variant wave omicron and, in a conversation with CNN, infectologists and epidemiologists discuss, in terms of public health, what are the concerns for holding the event, in addition to delivering tips to reduce a potential uncontrolled transmission of the coronavirus.

The current projection for the pandemic situation at the end of March, the restriction of only vaccinated people entering the venue and the fact that the event is outdoors are cautiously optimistic factors. But experts criticize the absence of the need to present a negative test for Covid-19 on entry.

To date, the biggest event held in Brazil since Covid-19 emerged was the São Paulo Formula 1 Grand Prix, according to the SPTuris Tourism and Events Observatory. In November 2021, 181,711 people attended the Autodromo José Carlos Pace, in Interlagos, in the South Zone of São Paulo, over three days.

GP São Paulo’s advisers informed the CNN that there are no isolated data on the public present each day. If Lollapalooza Sunday also reaches the maximum capacity of the first two days, the festival will surpass the Formula 1 audience by almost 120 thousand people.

In addition, while in the race the public was arranged in the stands, at the festival people will be free to circulate through a wide area of ​​the Autódromo.

With this information, what will define the risks for the realization of Lollapalooza will be the situation of the pandemic in Brazil at the end of March, and the expectation is, until then, optimistic.

How the pandemic should look at the end of March

All the experts consulted by the CNN emphatically highlighted the need to be cautious in forecasting the situation of Covid-19 in the country, because surprises can happen along the way.

“But the expectation, if we consider how Ômicron was in other countries, is that from now on we will in fact maintain a reduction in the number of cases – with a reflection of a reduction in hospitalizations and mortality”, he told the CNN The infectologist and professor at Unicamp, Raquel Stucchi.

“This would correspond to arriving at the end of March with the apparent control of the pandemic. Of course, if in this time frame, we don’t have a new variant that will put all this projection as no longer viable in practice”, he added.

The infectious disease specialist Instituto Emílio Ribas, Rosana Richtmann, added that, until the date of the event, Brazil should have a population with even greater vaccination coverage, and a significant number of people who have already had Covid-19. “We expect that the virus will have more and more difficulty finding people who are ‘totally virgin’ of immunity”, she pointed out.

The agglomerations during the Carnival holiday (despite the bans) bring a risk of a new increase in the transmission of the virus, and, consequently, a certain lack of control of the pandemic, ponders Professor Stucchi.

the epidemiologist Ethel Maciel, professor at the Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES), states that, despite this possible rebound of Carnival, the epidemiological situation at the end of March should be “a little better”. But she points out that “security is a word that, in a pandemic, is difficult to have complete guarantees”.

Even believing that the pandemic situation should be better until Lolla, epidemiologist and professor at the USP School of Public Health, Eliseu Waldman, said: “I have the impression that it is not possible to go to an event of these characteristics. I find it irresponsible.”

Lollapalooza rules

In positioning sent to CNN, the organization of Lolla stated that the festival “has a team 100% dedicated to establishing care and putting the necessary protocols into practice”.

The statement also says that it will be necessary to present proof of vaccination (physical or virtual) with at least two doses of the immunizer against Covid-19. “It will also be mandatory to wear a mask inside the Interlagos Circuit, and the withdrawal will only be allowed for the consumption of food and drinks”, add the organizers.

The experts consulted by CNN pointed out that the inspection of these sanitary measures is a decisive factor. “The vaccination certificate must be taken seriously and not ‘only for English to see’. We observed in several events with young people that, although theoretically presentation is mandatory, there is no effective barrier to requesting the voucher”, said Rosana Richtmann, who is also a member of the Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases (SBI).

Professor Stucchi points out that it would be necessary to discriminate the vaccination requirement, charging the three full doses of those who are already able to take it. “Only the second dose, we know that it is not understood as a basic vaccination for Ômicron.”

Due to the characteristics of the event – constant consumption of drinks, people very close to each other and singing -, the experts showed, in general, a disbelief that mandatory masks will be effective.

“The mitigating aspect is that the event is outdoors, which makes the risk lower, and if vaccination is required, that improves even more. My personal question is whether people are actually going to wear a mask and whether the proof will actually be asked for”, points out Professor Waldman.

Negative test should be required

O epidemiologist and professor at the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel), Pedro Hallaldeclared to CNN that Ômicron is the big question for Lollapalooza.

“The Ômicron unfortunately transmits among the vaccinated. We know that people, even being vaccinated, can transmit Ômicron and catch it”, said the coordinator of the Epicovid-19the largest epidemiological study on the virus in Brazil.

For this reason, Hallal declares that organizers should require the presentation, at the entrance of the event, of a negative test for Covid-19 made in the last 24 hours, at the most.

“The antigen test to enter would also be an additional protection and a better guarantee of safety”, stated Professor Maciel.

Raquel Stucchi also believes that mandatory testing would be an “ideal” complement to the requirement for proof of vaccination.

In addition to antigen or PCR tests, which are carried out by health professionals, this Thursday (3), self-tests for Covid-19 began to be sold in the city of São Paulo.

Questioned about the absence of a negative test among the festival’s requirements, Lollapalooza’s advice reinforced its position with the measures already announced.

“Lollapalooza Brasil is in constant contact with official health and public safety bodies and will follow the recommendations in force at the time of its realization”, concludes the organization’s statement.

Prevention for a safer event

“As the event is going to happen anyway, people who intend to go to Lollapalooza should first wear masks with greater filtering power, and bring extra masks to change during the period they are there,” said Raquel Stucchi.

She adds that, ideally, it’s recommended to stay “deep back” during shows. “It’s not the best thing about being in the crowd, but this care is necessary”, she points out.

The infectologist also asks festival participants to take a bottle of alcohol gel to sanitize their hands, and try to stay away from other people – especially strangers – when removing the mask to eat or drink.

Finally, she suggests that “it would be prudent” for those who participate in Lollapalooza to avoid, for the next two weeks, contact with people who are at serious risk of developing a serious case of Covid-19.

“Get vaccinated with all the doses planned for your case. If you are sick or have flu-like symptoms, be responsible for not going to the event. If you want to protect yourself, regardless of the behavior of others, wear a good mask”, also recommended Rosana Richtmann.

In addition to the number of audiences in the hundreds of thousands, the festival usually attracts a great diversity of origins. The Tourism Economy Intelligence Center (CIET), of the Secretary of Tourism and Travel of the State of São Paulo, informed the CNN The expectation is that 52% of the public will be from outside the city of São Paulo, 26% from other states and 2% from other countries.

Although the vaccination requirement removes the risks of a possible new circular variant, there is concern about the high movement of people caused by the event. “People will come to São Paulo, take public transport, and then preventive measures are even more important”, declared professor Ethel Maciel.

“No agglomeration situation is safe and these measures aim to minimize the insecurity of the moment”, concludes Maciel.

This article is part of a series of reports that will be produced by CNN and involve the first post-Covid edition of Lollapalooza Brasil. All productions can be found by clicking here.