U.S. Study: In-person Business Events Are Safer Than Most Daily Activities
Despite concerns about the Delta variant, a new U.S. study has found that face-to-face business meetings and events are actually safer than typical daily activities such as going to the grocery store.
Even so, the study found that uncertainty will impact attendance at upcoming events, with some gatherings already pushed to early 2022. More events are opting to implement proof of vaccination policies for attendees and participants.
The study—Planning Through Uncertainty: What You Need To Know About COVID-19 and Events—is a research partnership between global event producer Freeman and Epistemix, a computational modelling software firm.
Key points from the study include:
- The risks of infection at events can be eight times less than the metro area where the events are hosted;
- In-person business event participants are more likely to be vaccinated than the greater U.S. population, reflecting a vaccination rate above 80% and creating vaccination coverage that drastically cuts transmission of COVID-19 at those events, regardless of the gathering size;
- Despite some concerns over the Delta variant, the majority of attendees and exhibitors want to return to in-person events and over 90% are not opposed to additional health and safety protocols to enable them to gather safely.
The survey took place during August 2021 with participation by American and international exhibitors (442) as well as attendees (5,164) of business events.