Risk of sporting transmission of Covid minimal says respiratory expert

SHOWS:

MOSCOW, RUSSIA (FILE - JULY 9, 2018) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

1. DOMAGOJ VIDA KICKING THE BALL

ISTANBUL, TURKEY (NOVEMBER 11, 2020) (REUTERS PICTURES - ACCESS ALL) (MUTE)

2. STILL PHOTO OF VIDA CHALLENGES TURKEY'S CENK TOSUN

3. STILL PHOTO OF VIDA

4. STILL PHOTO OF VIDA AND TOSUN

LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (NOVEMBER 13, 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DOCTOR CHRIS ORTON, RESEARCH FELLOW AT CHELSEA AND WESTMINSTER AND RESPIRATORY SPECIALIST, SAYING:

"As far as anyone is aware on a governmental, advisory panel level, there are no confirmed cases of transfer either in training or during sporting activities being performed. As you were alluding to, during the circumstances around the games is probably where you are much more likely to contact the virus."

6. WHITE FLASH

7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DOCTOR CHRISTOPHER ORTON, RESEARCH FELLOW AT CHELSEA AND WESTMINSTER AND RESPIRATORY SPECIALIST, SAYING:

"Theoretically, the risk to your own team is going to be greater than to the opposition, but that does not mean that it is necessarily occurring on the pitch."

LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (NOVEMBER 12, 2020) (REUTERS STILLS - ACCESS ALL) (MUTE)

8. STILL IMAGE OF ALAN BROWNE TAKING A SHOT

9. STILL IMAGE OF ALAN BROWNE WITH JOHN EGAN

10. STILL IMAGE OF IRELAND TEAM INCLUDING BROWNE POSING BEFORE KICKOFF

LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (NOVEMBER 13, 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

11. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DOCTOR CHRISTOPHER ORTON, RESEARCH FELLOW AT CHELSEA AND WESTMINSTER AND RESPIRATORY SPECIALIST, SAYING:

"The virus is spread through aerosol, in droplets, so droplets are larger water based particles, aerosols are the very finest particles that are released during any human activity, breathing, running, talking etc. You are going to get huge dispersal in an outside environment almost immediately. So the whole point really when it comes to aerosol research is looking at the culmination of aerosols within a contained non-ventilated space. That is where it becomes much more relevant. So yes, theoretically, these things may be possible, but there are no proven cases, and even when they have looked into outbreaks and clusters, when you actually run deep viral sequencing, to have a look at the virus in detail, you actually see there might be multiple different strains. There was one outbreak where they had eight different strains identified. So, even though everyone was positive within one club or one group, they had contracted different viruses at different times over the preceding week or 10 days or so."

BURTON-ON-TRENT, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (NOVEMBER 11, 2020) (ENGLISH FA HANDOUT - ACCESS ALL)

12. RAHEEM STERLING TAKING PART IN TRAINING DRILL

13. PHIL FODEN AND JUDE BELLINGHAM TRAINING

LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (NOVEMBER 13, 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

14. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DOCTOR CHRISTOPHER ORTON, RESEARCH FELLOW AT CHELSEA AND WESTMINSTER AND RESPIRATORY SPECIALIST, SAYING:

"Elements of rugby -- that's the thing, rugby is a very hydrogenous game, if you have a back tackling a back, you are going to have virtually no increase relative to other games. The tight five and the scrums are an area which I think has benefited from an increased level of scrutiny. Certainly they have the framework within rugby and we know in the elite men's game, scrums are still played, but in the leagues and lower down this is not the case."

15. WHITE FLASH

16. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DOCTOR CHRISTOPHER ORTON, RESEARCH FELLOW AT CHELSEA AND WESTMINSTER AND RESPIRATORY SPECIALIST, SAYING:

"With the benefit of video play back and GPS tracking it is very easy then to see who has been in contact with whom and then there can be some targeted additional testing on the basis of a positive result. So certain activities of different sports will carry more risk. But no, not just per se stepping out on to the rugby pitch it is going to be the same as stepping out on to any other."

LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (NOVEMBER 13, 2020) (UK POOL - ACCESS ALL)

17. ENGLAND RUGBY HEAD COACH EDDIE JONES

18. SCRUM HALF BEN YOUNGS

19. CAPTAIN OWEN FARRELL

LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (NOVEMBER 13, 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

20. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DOCTOR CHRISTOPHER ORTON, RESEARCH FELLOW AT CHELSEA AND WESTMINSTER AND RESPIRATORY SPECIALIST, SAYING:

"Singing as has been proven with some of our aerosol research, there is a small yet statistically significant difference between the aerosols released through singing and breathing. However - so yes, if you could get people to stop singing then that would theoretically help with reducing the risk of transfer of the virus. However I think being pragmatic, I think that would be almost impossible to achieve telling people to stand in silence. It may well be that fans return to games in a more limited capacity where actual distancing measures are in place to take into consideration any such vocal activity, which I think we all feel is very much part of the game."

21. WHITE FLASH

22. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DOCTOR CHRISTOPHER ORTON, RESEARCH FELLOW AT CHELSEA AND WESTMINSTER AND RESPIRATORY SPECIALIST, SAYING:

"There is a difference between activity but the affects of volume are far greater. So speaking at between 90 and 100 decibels the amount of aerosol release is far greater, many, many orders of magnitude increased relative to speaking at 60 to 70 decibels."

23. WHITE FLASH

24. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DOCTOR CHRISTOPHER ORTON, RESEARCH FELLOW AT CHELSEA AND WESTMINSTER AND RESPIRATORY SPECIALIST, SAYING:

"But actually performing any activity louder, or more loudly, is actually more risky in terms of viral transmission."

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - JUNE 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

25. VARIOUS OF LIVERPOOL FANS CELEBRATING AFTER THEIR TEAM WON THE PREMIER LEAGUE

STORY: The chances of COVID-19 being spread during professional sport is very low, a British doctor researching the impact of the disease told Reuters.

Chris Orton's comments came on the same day Ireland soccer star Alan Browne tested positive for coronavirus less than 24 hours after playing a friendly against England.

Earlier this week Croatia captain Domagoj Vida was taken off at half time during a match against Turkey after a test for COVID-19 came back positive when the match was in progress.

But Dr Orton, who is a research fellow at London's Chelsea and Westminster hospital and has just been given a UK Research and Innovation grant to investigate aerosol release in elite sport in relation to coronavirus, said within the UK there have been no confirmed cases of transmission during a sporting match or training.

When playing sport outdoors, he added, the aerosol particles in exhaled breath in which COVID-19 is carried disperse very quickly.

There have been concerns over the spread of COVID-19 in rugby as there is close contact in the sport, and France's match against Fiji at the weekend was cancelled on Friday (November 13) after an outbreak in the Pacific Islanders' camp.

Dr Orton said players involved in scrums, especially the 'tight five' of hookers, props and locks had some increased risk, but the chances of transmission in matches was not necessarily higher than in other sports.

One of the respiratory expert's recent projects has involved assessing the dangers of singing, and whether that helps spread COVID-19.

When fans do return to sports stadiums, Dr Orton said, risks of COVID-19 spread will be associated more with the volume of voices rather that people cheering on their teams.