Omnium AIR™ Model Helps Venues Reopen Safely
Omnium is known for helping CPG clients improve retail performance by applying mathematics, data science, and industry insights. This approach has been even more critical during the COVID-19 pandemic as changes in shopper behavior (panic buying and dramatic shifts to at-home consumption) have challenged supply chains.
COVID-19 has increased public awareness of the utility of mathematical models in solving difficult problems. In 2020 this has brought opportunities for Omnium to work in other industries-- Professional Sports, Casinos, and Restaurants. Since this past summer, Omnium has been meeting with teams from six professional American sports leagues to develop airborne virus transmission risk mitigation strategies for stadiums and other large event venues.
The scientific and government communities have learned that the key to reducing transmission is reducing viral load which can be accomplished via social distancing, face masks, and increased air flow. Using long-established epidemiological principles, we developed the Omnium AIR™Airborne Infection Risk Model as a comparable risk evaluation tool to calculate coronavirus infection risk at events. Using basic biophysical principles, the model calculates a total numerical score (based on event subactivities including entrance, egress, stairs, hallways, elevators, etc) which is compared to the score of other activities, such as eating in a restaurant, flying on a plane, or going to the store. This allows our clients and their customers to understand the relative risk of COVID-19 transmission for the event/activity being evaluated.
The Omnium AIR™ model is delivered with a comparative risk calculator for scenario analysis built by Stemmler Technologies. The model is subtle enough to estimate the consequences of prophylactics and mitigating protective measures and can be easily updated to reflect evolving epidemiological conclusions. The analysis can be used to support policy decisions, i.e. “another arrow in the quiver.”
The Omnium AIR™ model uses standard epidemiological assumptions that are outlined in the papers Linear Infection Model and Long-Range vs Short-Range Aerial Transmission by leading university mathematicians Dr. Bob Dumas and Dr. John McCarthy. These papers have been submitted to peer-reviewed journals and are available in medical archives.
As we head into the final weeks of 2020 and anticipate the re-opening of our favorite activities sometime in 2021, we remain committed to our role as an unbiased partner, grounded in scientific modeling.