Attending a big event without masks or social distancing is no more dangerous than going to a restaurant or shopping centre, according to recent findings.
In the past few weeks and months there has been numerous pilot events take place across the country, covering everything from football crowds and nightclubs to conferences and the Brit Awards.
Live events were able to resume on 17 May with capacity restrictions and the requirement of familiar mitigations such as face coverings and social distancing, with the Government’s roadmap targeting a full lifting of restrictions on 21 June.
Initial data from the events research programme suggests that as long as there is there are screenings and good ventilation, alongside other factors that help to mitigate the risk, the spreading of coronavirus can massively decrease.
This latest news has added further weight behind the lifting of all restrictions on 21 June, which includes the full return of face-to-face events.
There has been concerns as of late that this date will have to be pushed back due to the spread of the Indian Covid variant.
But the new findings may make more of a case for mass events to have “Covid-status certification”, proving people going have a low risk of being infectious and spreading the virus.
Ministers will receive the results of the event studies in the coming days, with an announcement on events expected only a week prior to the initial 21 June milestone.
This said, plans for a new Covid ‘tier’ system have reportedly been drawn up by the government as fears mount over the Indian variant.
According to The Times and Politico, there are three options for what happens on June 21, when it had been hoped all legal restrictions would end.
Either it will go ahead as planned, or there will be local restrictions in some areas, or some June 21 easings will be delayed for the whole country.
While this research into the safety of big events took place before the developing concerns about the Indian variant, it is still likely to play a big part in the government’s decision-making.
A government source told The Times, “We are still waiting for the final bits of data but the results so far have been very encouraging”.
“It will help make the case that these large events are not inherently more risky than other parts of the hospitality sector. It shows that there are things that you can do to make these settings as safe as other daily activities.”
The source added, “while the mass events aren’t 100% safe, you can decrease the risk to a ‘reasonable level'”.
Inevitably, events will take a lot more organisation than they would have done before the pandemic, with likely requirements for those attending and participating to prove they’ve had a negative Covid test recently, reducing the capacity inside the venue and strict organisation with entering and moving around the venue to minimise any mixing.
But initial results from test events, including the Brit Awards, the World Snooker Championship, and a business conference and nightclub event in Liverpool, suggest that as long as these extra measures are employed, the risk of an outbreak is low.
The pilot events that have already taken place have required all attendees to take a PCR test both before and after as they were not required to wear masks or practice social distancing. There have been no reported cases of surges in positive Covid tests that can be attributed to any of the pilot events.
While many of the pilot events were seated, there was a club night where crowds were mixing on the dance floor.
People in attendance at these test events wore a device that monitored how many other people they came into contact with and what they did in those scenarios (hugged or shook hands), including how far apart they stayed.
The government was warned by behaviour experts that if these pilot events led to fresh coronavirus outbreaks then confidence in them would plummet.
Current plans suggests that some manner of ‘Covid-status certification’ may be needed from 21 June, at least on a temporary basis. This would mean anyone attending an event – or nightclub – would either need to present proof of vaccination, proof of a recent negative test, or proof of natural antibodies. The government is yet to make a final decision.
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