The man is the fourth person diagnosed with the COVID-19 strain in NZ.
A man who attended a Tool concert at Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand, last Friday has tested positive for coronavirus and is now in self-isolation. The New Zealand Herald reports that the unidentified man — the fourth person in NZ diagnosed with the COVID-19 strain of the virus — has been isolated since Wednesday and does not require hospital care.
Fears about the rapid spread of the virus have led to the cancelation or postponement of dozens of major concerts, festivals, conferences and events across the globe and Ashley Bloomfield, NZ’s Director General of Health told the outlet, “we encourage all people in the area of the concert to be aware of the symptoms and contact the Healthline if concerned.”
The man was reportedly in the general admission section near the front left-hand corner of the arena during the show.
“The advice is that the risk is very low for all others who attended this concert,” Bloomfield said, noting that “casual contacts” at the show could potentially be in the hundreds.”There was no way of tracking the people who were in that area of the concert, they are classed as causal contacts.” The health ministry is working on tracking down anyone who had contact with the man.
A spokesperson for Tool had not returned requests for comment from the group at press time.
In just the past week, promoters have canceled Ultra Music festivals in Miami and Abu Dhabi and Tomorrowland in France; Apple, Netflix and other big brands have pulled out of South by Southwest; and United Airlines and JetBlue have drastically cut back on flights. Speaking to Billboard, one expert said the concert business should be concerned. “Concert promoters might need to come up with some kind of new model for this period,” said George Loewenstein, a Carnegie Mellon University professor who specializes in the application of psychology to economics. “It feels to me like we’re at the beginning.”
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