Reese Kaplan -- Is It Safe to Return to the Ballpark?

With the relaxation of mask requirements in many states it is once again calling to mind the question of whether or not it is safe to attend a game at the ballpark.  According to the CDC, people who have been vaccinated are much less restricted now when it comes to what is considered acceptable behavior.  Masks are not required for outdoor events and social distancing rules no longer apply.

Of course, the flip side to the question is how do you know if the person with whom you come into contact has been vaccinated or not?  Now, if you’ve had your vaccines, it shouldn’t really matter (in theory), but it then calls to mind medical privacy laws.  I was on a conference call with my new employer yesterday in which we’re all working from home and they described the plan for a staggered return to the office.  They said if you are in your own office or cubicle you don’t need to wear a mask but if you venture out of that predefined space then you do.

Huh?

Somehow that whole vaccinated-is-safe concept kind of flies out the window when you hear rules like this one surfacing.  As we pushed for clarification what we were told is that it is a HIPAA violation to ask people if they have been vaccinated, consequently you don’t know whether or not the people in the office have gotten injections or not.  Similarly, they have no idea if you have been vaccinated either, so it’s kind of a game of Russian Roulette to figure out what the impact will be to reducing the restrictions.

In this particular case, starting in July we’re to begin coming to the office two days per week and see how it goes.  If no problems arise, then in August it’s three days per week and in September it moves up to four days per week.  They’re never returning to the five days per week schedule, allowing one work-from-home day each week.  

So that brings us back to the question of the safety of returning to Citifield and elsewhere to watch games live as they happen.  At the gate they won’t be able to verify whether or not the ticket holder has received an injection but they should be able to perform what has become standard medical queries including checking one’s temperature and verifying contact with infected people.  That process would greatly slow down the lines of folks entering the stadium and you wonder what value it possesses beyond the temperature check as you have no way of knowing whether or not the questions asked are answered truthfully.

A group of friends I have back in the New York City area is looking to attend a game in the June timeframe but found out tickets are restricted to groups of four.  I don’t know how they ascertained that you are less likely to come in contact with an infected person in a group of four than a group of six or eight, but that restriction means you cannot really put together group outings and sit near one another.  

I know everyone is chomping at the bit for normalcy to return but there are folks still not 100% comfortable to think the pandemic is over.  The truth is likely somewhere in between the two extremes and it’s a matter of what feels comfortable to you.  The pleasure of watching the game is not necessarily a good price to pay if you wind up sick, yet at the same time restricting every type of previously acceptable behavior for the rest of your life doesn’t seem right either.

We are living in interesting times.