AT1 FY21 - General Discussion + FA, page-534

Speaking of Ag tests in AU. Was listening to ABC news around 11.30am-ish today. There was a discussion segment where an epidemiologist (didn't catch the name. Might have been Mary-Louise McLaws @ UNSW?) was asked about the coming SCG cricket match, which is still scheduled to go ahead, despite the increased NSW infection levels.

Even with reduced crowds, social distancing seats etc, ~24k people is the audience numbers (masks still not made mandatory so far)

The epidemiologist actually pointed out that infection control plans usually had several layers of strategy - eg: mandatory mask wearing when walking through the crowd points (turnstiles, bathrooms, food courts etc), no shouting/singing (she doubted though people would follow this) + said that this was the specific situation where rapid tests are best used as one of the control layers (instead of relying on PCR tests)

The logic she shared was:
- PCR testing was unsuitable, prior to the game, as it was impossible for all ~24k attendees to get tested immediately, before entering stadium

- 15min RDTs (anything from 80%-95%+ accuracy) could be used for the whole crowd + use it before the event as they move into the stadium (& a few days after the event as follow-up for the false/unclear results)...like Liverpool city @ UK gov has been doing with repeating RDTs every week to sift through pop groups.

- even though the RDTs are not 100% accurate (like PCR), she said "in that crowd of 24k people, its better to have 80-90% chance of catching an infected person, and thus reduce the risk %, rather than go forward with the 100% risk that anyone of the 24k people could be found to be infected (much later)...and then having to massively follow-up with 100% PCR test-contact trace these 24k people.."

The epidemiologist went on to talk a bit more about Liverpool @ UK, despite its planning issues, which has managed to successfully find 80% of infections that were previously unknown, through their repeat RDTs across the local pop
+
ABC article about the SCG match/infection control risks
_{https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-30/nsw-cricket-new-year-test-covid-debate/13021758}