As someone who works in the music industry, I can tell you that we've all been waiting and wondering when things will get back up and running. At WPOC we have our annual Hot Country Nights Series at Power Plant Live that's been put on hold, a few other shows at Rams Head Live and Baltimore Soundstage that had to be postponed, and let's not forget about Sunday in the Country. We've had to put that planning on hold as well. The hope is that things will be back to some kind of normal by July, but now there's some doubt being put on that thought.
Zeke Emmanuel, director of the Healthcare Transformation Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, says he doesn't think big events could resume until fall of 2021 at the earliest.
Why does he think this? To be honest, his answer makes a lot of sense. He says you can't just flip a switch and open the whole of society up after being closed for however long we will be when this is said and done. If we just go back to acting like everything is fine then the virus has a very strong probability to flare back up and be even worse that the situation we're in now. Keep in mind, we yet don't have a cure or vaccine for the Coronavirus.
They say the second wave of the Spanish flu in the early 1900's was worse than the first. And in China and South Korea they are seeing new spikes of people getting the disease. Even some of those who were considered cured are once again coming down with it.
Emmanuel believes restarting the community has to be done in stages, and larger gatherings like sports, conferences and concerts will be the last to return. We need to get the essentials up and running before we can bring back in the fun and pleasurable events.
Are you ready to wait another year+ before you can see your favorite artists on the stage? I hope it doesn't last that long, but with no vaccine I think I'll be thinking long and hard before I invest in a big event.