Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic directly reached and impacted upon elite sports and caused the postponement of sporting events globally. In order to enable the return of activities, protocols were created with recommendations to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. The objective of this work is to analyze and compare the safe return protocols of major football leagues and associations to those of the Brazilian Championship, as well as to survey the numbers of COVID-19 outbreaks in clubs that competed in the 2020 Brazilian Championship Series A. The documentary research was carried out through the analysis of articles published on open-source football league and federation websites. National and international return protocols were verified, as well as the documenting of isolated cases and outbreaks of COVID-19 in the Brazilian Championship. In the Brazilian Championship, the return to play occurred at a time when COVID-19 case numbers were rising, a fact that, together with the decentralization of the match cities, was likely linked to the number of positive cases. A total of 302 positive cases of COVID-19 were identified in 14 outbreaks during the competition. Therefore, this work identifies good practice and underscores the need to reassess and refine the protocols to minimize the impacts of COVID-19 going forward.
Highlights
IntroductionThe risks of SARS-CoV-2 contagion are greater during direct contact at distances of less than 2 metres, contaminated respiratory droplets are suspended in the air for seconds (droplets between 5 and 10 μm) or for minutes up to hours (droplets ≤ 5 μm), being classified as a great risk, even over larger distances [6]
The risks of SARS-CoV-2 contagion are greater during direct contact at distances of less than 2 metres, contaminated respiratory droplets are suspended in the air for seconds or for minutes up to hours, being classified as a great risk, even over larger distances [6]
The comparative analysis of the protocols highlighted some weaknesses of the protocol implemented by the CBF regarding the risks of COVID-19 transmission
Summary
The risks of SARS-CoV-2 contagion are greater during direct contact at distances of less than 2 metres, contaminated respiratory droplets are suspended in the air for seconds (droplets between 5 and 10 μm) or for minutes up to hours (droplets ≤ 5 μm), being classified as a great risk, even over larger distances [6]. These modes of transmission and the associated risks were not well known at the beginning of the outbreak
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