Mathematics could provide solution to holding large events safely

Organisers of a Virtual Study Group are looking for scientists to take part in a workshop to help solve Covid19 safety challenges faced by the events industry. Last updated on Tuesday 29 June 2021 - Mathematicians from the University of Bath's Institute for Mathematical Innovation (IMI) are using their modelling and statistical expertise to help festival and other events organisers deliver their events safely during the pandemic, offering a free virtual workshop on 13-15 July. This three day event, organised by V-KEMS (the Virtual Forum for Knowledge Exchange in the Mathematical Sciences), will be an intensive session bringing mathematical scientists and other disciplines together to solve the challenges posed by holding large events. The Virtual Study Group with the theme - COVID Safety in Large Events - is part of a series of events on COVID safety run in collaboration with the RAMP Continuity Network (a UKRI funded project). The Virtual Study Group will cover the spectrum of large events from indoor to outdoor, ticketed to un-ticketed, dynamic to static. Professor Chris Budd, from the University of Bath's Department of Mathematical Sciences and an organiser of the V-KEMS event said: "We are currently working with a number of stakeholders to identify appropriate problems and scenarios for this study group. "Depending on the scenario, we may look at how partitioning attendees into bubbles might affect likely transmission rates, for example, how does partitioning by age affect the transmission?