Unfixed Movement Route Model, Non-Overcrowding and Social Distancing Reduce the Spread of COVID-19 in Sporting Facilities

Bote Qi, Jingwang Tan, Qingwen Zhang, Meng Cao, Xingxiong Wang and Yu Zou
Additional contact information
Bote Qi: Department of Sport and Exercise Science, College of Education, Zhejiang University, 886 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou 310058, China
Jingwang Tan: Department of Sport and Exercise Science, College of Education, Zhejiang University, 886 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou 310058, China
Qingwen Zhang: College of Physical Education and Training, Shanghai University of Sport, 399 Chang Hai Road, Shanghai 200438, China
Meng Cao: Institute of Physical Education, Normal College, Shenzhen University, 3688 Nan Hai Road, Shenzhen 518061, China
Xingxiong Wang: College of Management and Economics, Tianjin University, 92 Wei Jin Road, Tianjin 300072, China
Yu Zou: Department of Sport and Exercise Science, College of Education, Zhejiang University, 886 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou 310058, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 15, 1-9

Abstract: Localized outbreaks of COVID-19 have been reported in sporting facilities. This study used the Agent-based Modeling (ABM) method to analyze the transmission rate of COVID-19 in different sporting models, sporting spaces per capita, and situations of gathering, which contributes to understanding how COVID-19 transmits in sports facilities. The simulation results show that the transmission rate of COVID-19 was higher under the Fixed Movement Route (FMR) than under the Unfixed Movement Route (UMR) in 10 different sporting spaces per capita (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 m 2 ) ( p = 0.000). For both FMR and UMR, the larger the sporting space per capita, the lower the virus transmission rate. Additionally, when the sporting space per capita increases from 4 m 2 to 5 m 2 , the virus transmission rate decreases most significantly ( p = 0.000). In the FMR model with a per capita sporting space of 5 m 2 , minimizing gathering (no more than three people) could significantly slow down the transmission rate of the COVID-19 virus ( p < 0.05). This study concluded that: (1) The UMR model is suggested in training facilities or playing grounds; (2) The sporting space should be non-overcrowding, and it is recommended that the sporting space per capita in the sporting grounds should not be less than 5 m 2 ; (3) It is important to maintain safe social distancing and minimize gathering (no more than three people) when exercising.

Keywords: COVID-19; sports facilities; agent-based modeling; NetLogo simulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/15/8212/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/15/8212/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:15:p:8212-:d:607372

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().