Scientists Are Throwing a Concert ‘Experiment’ to Test How COVID-19 Spreads

 

The project is called Restart-19 and it’s currently scheduled for August 22nd at the Leipzig Concert Hall, a seated venue that’s previously hosted shows by Bob Dylan and Britney Spears.

The “experiment” will see 4,200 healthy people attend a live concert by Tim Bendzko, a popular German singer, reports BrooklynVegan. So far over a thousand volunteers have signed up, which means there’s room for more to attend. All you need to do to go is prove you’re between the ages of 18 and 50, test negative to COVID-19, and register at the project’s website.

If all goes according to plan, then Restart-19 will begin by having all volunteers tested again for the virus. From there, volunteers will be instructed to wear masks and enter the venue. Everyone will have wearable devices that “transmit data every five seconds, including proximity to other devices and location within the venue” as well as bottles of fluorescent disinfectant that allow researchers to see which surfaces have been touched and, therefore, become “particularly dangerous.” While Bendzko performs live onstage, a fog machine will be running in the room to assess the possibility of the virus spreading through aerosols.

 

Restart-19 is expected to cost roughly €990,000. It’s being funded by by the German states Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt in addition to the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg. The organizers have said they hope it will help “identify a framework” for the ways in which large music, entertainment, and sporting events can be held “without posing a danger for the population” after September.