Bill Burt: Health expert says it's safe for fans to attend outdoor sports

Feb. 26—I admit it. I was looking for a fight, or rather, a verbal joust.

I planned on losing. I was going to soft sell a discussion to start, with a professional. As in an expert in infectious diseases, that spectators, in my opinion, should be allowed to attend games.

I wanted him to tell me why I was wrong and put me in my place. So at least I can say I tried.

Dr. David Hamer answered my voicemail, explaining what I wanted to talk about — parents attending outdoor sports as the new Fall II season began with practices this week.

He was pleasant, professional and he was ready for my slanted questions implying it should be safe for spectators to attend high school and college games immediately.

The fight never happened. Dr. Hamer, well, agreed with me.

A professor of Global Health and Medicine at the Boston University School of Public Health and School of Medicine, he is a board-certified specialist in infectious diseases and has been quoted in many stories over the last 6-9 months.

Among his side jobs is reviewing plans to have spectators for upcoming Major League Soccer games and PGA Tour events. Both pro sports, said Dr. Hamer, expect to have a percentage of spectators attending early this spring.

Dr. Hamer is a go-to coronavirus expert.

"Fans should and could be allowed to attend games," said Dr. Hamer. "Definitely not 100 percent capacity, but 25 or 40 percent? Sure, that shouldn't be a problem, especially for outdoor sports where natural air currents disperse any potentially infectious aerosols."

Upon hearing news yesterday that Gov. Charlie Baker would be allowing fans at the T.D. Garden and Fenway Park, Dr. Hamer said it was expected.

Dr. Hamer said wearing masks should be mandatory. Social distancing and spacing, too.

High school stadiums and baseball fields, he said, have more than enough room to allows fans, to easily be spread out.

He said that the virus numbers have improved greatly over the last two months and have flattened out in some regions.

The "new" cases are a good barometer for the virus and they have trended in the right direction.

"I understand schools have been overly cautious, particularly months ago, but I believe fans can attend sporting events outside and have very, very low risk with the virus," said Dr. Hamer.

Keeping spectators away from the athletes, at all levels, is important.

Figuring out concessions, which causes people to take their masks off temporarily to eat or drink, is another issue that stadiums and parks need to follow.

"We still have a ways to go with COVID-19 with more data coming in," said Dr. Hamer. "But the way I see it, fans should be able attend to games. Just be smart."

And one other thing. Shovel out the bleachers, please. They will probably be used over the next two months.

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E-MAIL: bburt@eagletribune.com

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