Premiership: Could fans be present for rugby union's restart?

[Heathen]

From the Beeb :

Premiership Rugby have provisionally said the season will restart on 15 August - but will some fans be allowed into grounds to watch?

Premiership clubs are hopeful that any change in social distancing measures and the opening-up of the hospitality industry may lead to fans being present when rugby union restarts.

The government is expected to announce on Tuesday if the two-metre distancing rule will be relaxed, and if pubs and restaurants can open in July.

Premiership Rugby plan to resume on 15 August, with matches set to take place behind closed doors, but there is growing optimism clubs may be able to host games with reduced crowds.

An early proposal was for one 'neutral' venue to stage whole rounds of matches at a time, but this plan is now likely to be stood down in favour of normal 'home and away' fixtures.

And while the clubs will be guided by government advice over social distancing and mass gatherings, it is understood they are exploring the possibility of opening up stadia in line with the hospitality sector.

"If pubs and restaurants are able to open then we will be seeing what we can learn from them so that we can apply that to our own bars and hospitality areas," said one club representative.

While top-flight rugby union has lagged behind other sports when it comes to testing and a return to action, the delay has given the rugby authorities more time and a chance to learn from football's example.

The Premier League, which has already resumed, had originally looked to play matches at 'neutral' grounds, before deciding on the usual 'home and away' format.

A number of Premiership clubs have already offered supporters refunds on season tickets for the 2019-2020 season in the expectation their remaining home matches will take place behind closed doors.

However, with all season ticket holders unlikely to be able to attend because of restrictions on crowd size, clubs would have the option of holding a ballot to determine who can buy tickets.

Early estimates suggest a change in distancing rules could mean as many as 4,000 supporters would be allowed into a ground with a capacity of 15,000.

In May, Surrey County Cricket Club announced they were looking into a reduced-capacity crowd of up to 6,000.

"We are actively investigating how and how soon we may be able to get fans safely into the ground again, and in what numbers," added a well-placed club source.

Premiership Rugby have employed consultancy firm PWC to manage their return-to-play project.

A league spokesperson added: "The safety of our players, clubs and staff continues to be Premiership Rugby's priority, and we are on track to resume play on 15 August.

"We'll make an announcement when a formal decision has been made on the venue or venues for these games."

[Stinging Wasp]

As much as we all want to get back watching this is an inherently stupid idea. Exhibition tennis tournaments in Serbia(?) have resulted in pro players testing positive and the fact the US and Germany are reporting spikes in the number of cases and R rate should be enough to keep us all away from mass gatherings for a good few months yet!

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[Heathen]

I must admit when I saw the article, it did not fill me with any conviction that it woud be a wise move. With my wife still in shielding, I do not think that I will be travelling to games before 1) the pandemic has been declared extinct or 2) a proven vaccine is available.

[Hymenoptera]

I disagree. If your socially responsible, aware and a process is in place for getting people in and out of the place safely then what's the issue. You wear a mask, sit away from anyone else. Your probably no more at risk than if you go shopping, to a restaurant or any other activity that people are placed.
Using other countries as a comparison is risky. Germany's rise isn't based on events, its more localised and/or largely related to 'type' of worker.  The US is an issue in itself, with nobody being responsible or taking a single precaution to mitigate risk. US only hope now is a vaccine.

[Neils]

Not too sure about this BUT

Wasps have a 32+K Stadium and probably 4-5K of season ticket holders at best. Create an atmosphere by letting them in should be easy to seat people at current distancing. Having a pee and food and drink bring more problems but the concourse at the Ricoh is wide and has footy roller shutter barriers for each section/stand so could be possible. Pie in the sky probably but far easier at Wasps than other grounds due to lower numbers and bigger space. Even the RFU are saying with 1 metre distancing they can get 40k in (still the movement problems). Would I go - not to sure.

[DGP Wasp]

If there is a way to make this work safely and within government guidelines, which themselves will look very different in a couple of weeks if reports are to be believed; and likely more so by mid-August (provided the downturn in cases continues), then why not?  I understand some may not be comfortable with it due to their own personal health and experience, but that should not prevent the many who don't consider themselves at greater risk and are willing to trust the club and their fellow supporters to act responsibly, from getting back to doing something that we've all been missing terribly.

It would, I'm sure be a very different match day experience to what we've been used to, particularly when it comes to getting in and out, and backwards and forwards to toilets, bars (if open) etc.  If everything takes a bit longer and I can't have a beer then hey-ho, I'd rather be there enjoying the game without some of these extras than not be there at all.

With the virus now seemingly under some level of control, then attention must begin to turn to economic recovery, and the long term impact of lock-down on mental and social wellbeing.  The effects of this will still be being felt long after the virus itself has been eliminated.  While it remains under control, then re-opening under safe conditions, following government advice is the responsible thing to do.  It is then down to individuals to decide whether or not they are comfortable returning to these environments.

[MarleyWasp]

If the club are organised and properly plan seating (i.e. I'm currently living with my father so there's no need for us to be kept apart), they can effectively blank out seats to ensure social distancing and be able to offer 8-12k attendances. There would probably be a time window to arrive and some people may need to wait a bit before they leave. There will probably be fewer amenities open. But in theory I don't see why it can't happen.

What I certainly don't understand is that if you're more likely to catch Covid indoors, why restaurants can open with tables spaced out but you can't go into an open air stadium and watch sport. If offered the chance to go to home games in August and September, I probably would go, but fully understand why many wouldn't.

Personally, and I have no scientific knowledge, 
I think we actually had a first wave at the start of winter and that the last few months have been the second wave. I know several people who displayed Covid type symptoms long before the first confirmed case.

I think it's going to reach the point, especially if vaccines don't materialise, where the world needs to make a decision on whether we carry on as we currently are, or get back to how things were albeit with some changes and hope that with developments with treatment mean we can manage it.

[Heathen]

Personally, and I have no scientific knowledge, 
I think we actually had a first wave at the start of winter and that the last few months have been the second wave. I know several people who displayed Covid type symptoms long before the first confirmed case.

David, totally agree with you on this. Had the same discussion with quite a few people locally and we all felt that we had had a mild dose, prior to the official recognition.

[Raggs]

Considering mild symptoms are so similar to a cold or flu, it's far more likely that's what you had. On a national level its estimated from studies only around 7-8% have had it.  Even the worst hit areas are no more than 20% i believe.

[Chunky24]

Looking back my wife and I both felt we had these symptoms early in February and my daughter was almost certainly diagnosed with it in mid May, at that time they weren't testing under 12s, and she had quite a tough time with it. Being as I am a teacher, my children go to 2 other different schools and my wife is nhs treating patients in the community, plus we were skiing in Italy at Feb half term, you would think we were pretty good candidates for it. However recently my wife had her NHS antibodies test which came back negative which we were surprised by but knowing the accuracy thought it might not be correct, she was then sent a government antibodies test as part of their research work, also negative, so despite our thoughts we had had it then it seems probably not, guess the good news out of it would be that the wife's PPE has been working!

[westwaleswasp]

The number of people who think they had it last December is big, you hear it over'I had it in December', but in every study testing reveals a relatively small portion of the population  had it.  I know a couple of dozen people who had a fever and dry cough in that period- teaching exposed you to lots of people as I am sure Chunky24 will testify- my colleagues dropped like flies back then, some were really ill, but the odds are as Raggs says, those people had another respiratory virus, but not Covid 19, the symptoms of which overlap significantly. I have had the misfortune to be hospitalised for over a week by such a virus a couple of years back Covid 19 does not have a monopoly on such things.

 Sadly, one of my Uni contemporaries, a parent at school, did fall victim to the virus and died in April, which brought it home to me- I am 47.
Antibody testing is being rolled out  slowly now (my neighbour is having one Wed), so for some they will be able to say for sure over the next few months. In Wales everyone seems to be in the top priority category for testing. Parents, Teachers, NHS, Care workers, Care home residents, Police have all been mentioned, which makes you wonder who is at the bottom....
The principality is likely to stay a field hospital thus winter in case of a second spike, so England has been mooted for internationals.