[ti:Sports Arenas Working to Make Air Safe for Fans] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]The large college basketball tournament in the U.S., [00:04.60]known as “March Madness” begins this week. [00:10.28]The men’s tournament is being held in the state of Indiana [00:14.84]and the women’s tournament is in Texas. [00:19.52]Both tournaments are letting fans attend games. [00:24.88]And all games are being held indoors. [00:29.40]During the coronavirus pandemic, [00:32.92]very few people have been permitted [00:36.52]at indoor sporting events in the United States. [00:41.44]But that is changing [00:43.16]as more people are being vaccinated against the virus [00:47.68]and COVID-19 is spreading a bit more slowly. [00:53.44]Most of the indoor arenas [00:55.84]that will let fans watch games in person are very large. [01:01.08]They can hold about 20,000 people. [01:05.92]However, during the pandemic, [01:09.60]attendance will be limited to about 25 percent. [01:15.72]Fans will have to wear face coverings. [01:19.24]Fans who do not know each other will not be permitted to sit together. [01:26.44]And the arenas will work to make sure fresh air comes in [01:32.16]with strong air movement systems. [01:37.00]But are these events safe to attend? [01:41.80]Allen Hershkowitz is an environmental scientist. [01:47.12]He said he would go to an indoor sporting event [01:51.52]as long as other people in attendance follow the rules. [01:57.56]“Given the protocols, I would feel OK about it,” he said. [02:03.80]The arenas are very high from floor to ceiling. [02:08.68]Experts say this helps with safety. [02:13.76]Richard Corsi is the head of Portland State University’s [02:18.64]College of Engineering and Computer Science. [02:23.60]He said “I think the risks are probably very low” [02:29.32]if people follow the rules, stay apart from each other [02:34.36]and keep their faces covered unless they are eating or drinking. [02:40.08]Ryan Gensler is the director of sports [02:44.48]for a firm that designs large arenas. [02:49.12]He said most buildings built in the last 20 years [02:54.40]that hold sporting events already have good systems [02:59.28]for moving and cleaning the air. [03:02.32]They were built that way in order to improve the experience [03:07.76]for people watching the games, [03:10.64]not because of any pandemic worries. [03:13.80]Ana Rule is an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University. [03:21.16]She said large indoor arenas [03:24.96]like Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis have a lot of air. [03:31.56]Lucas Oil Stadium will hold the last three games [03:36.68]of the men’s college basketball tournament. [03:40.52]It can seat about 75,000 people. [03:45.84]But during March Madness, [03:48.40]only 17,500 fans will be able to attend each game. [03:57.32]She explained that particles that go into the air [04:01.92]when people breathe will have room to spread out. [04:07.44]“So that helps,” she said. [04:11.00]Shandy Dearth studies diseases for a large university in Indianapolis. [04:19.32]She said if COVID-19 case numbers were still rising without control, [04:26.40]it would not be a good idea to let fans attend games. [04:32.40]But the conditions are now improving. [04:35.40]She said people still should not gather in large groups [04:40.36]as they arrive at the games. [04:42.88]And they should continue to wear face coverings. [04:46.68]“We’ve got a lot of lessons learned from the last year,” Dearth said, [04:53.52]“so it’s not an experiment. [04:56.56]I think we know enough now to know what we need to do.” [05:01.48]I’m Dan Friedell. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM