RE: And 120,000 soon at Silverstone1 Jul 2021 06:53
Surge in Scottish Covid cases raises Euro 2020 safety concerns
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/30/surge-in-scottish-covid-cases-raises-euro-2020-safety-concerns
"Public Health Scotland data shows 1,991 people who later tested positive had attended one or more Euro 2020 events."
"Nearly two-thirds of cases reported travelling to London for a Euro 2020 event, including 397 people who were at Wembley for the England v Scotland fixture on 18 June – 15% of the 2,600 Scotland fans given tickets for the match."
"Government sources suggest plans for “Covid certificates”, that would involve members of the public being forced to show their vaccine status or evidence of a negative test before entering a mass event, have been ditched. Ministers feared they would be unable to win MPs’ backing for the plans, which many Conservative backbenchers regard as an unacceptable infringement of civil liberties."
"Prof Christina Pagel, director of the clinical operational research unit at University College London, said the news might explain the gender gap in Scottish cases, which was already suspected to be due to communal watching of the Euro football championships. I humbly suggest that this is perhaps more relevant evidence of the impact of big (televised) events on both attendees and watchers, than the small phase 1 government studies,” she wrote on Twitter.
Phase 1 of an official trial of mass events was published last week, and gave an upbeat assessment of the risks. But experts have pointed out that many of the events were held before the highly transmissible Delta variant took hold.
Euro 2020 matches are being hosted in London as part of a pilot programme which has included everything from club nights to spectator sports.
Thousands of ticketless Scotland fans travelled down to London on 18 June despite warnings from the Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, and the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, to stay at home.
It is unclear whether they contracted the virus while in England or were already carrying it before their arrival. No data has yet been published about England fans attending the match.
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Can't wait to see how many England fans are positive, and what the data means for attendees of all three Wembley semi-final & final matches.
If the players themselves were infected and couldn't play, it might have more meaning to the 'official trial of mass events' study group.
Whatever happens, I fear the aftermath of the Wembley matches will not be seen as a 'lesson learned' by the trial leaders.