Experimental Barcelona concert did not cause COVID-19 infections: Researchers

Apr 27, 2021

Madrid [Spain], April 27 (ANI/Sputnik): An indoor concert of Spanish indie band Love of Lesbian that took place in Barcelona in late March as part of a mass COVID-19 testing experiment has proved to be a success, as there has been no significant increase in cases, the researchers behind the experiment said on Tuesday.
The experiment involved 5,000 concert-goers who were given an express test for the antigen to the virus, had their temperature checked and were provided with FFP2 masks for the event. Despite the concert being held without social distancing, there was no virus outbreak after the concert.
"By going to that concert, people were safer than anywhere else in the city of Barcelona," Josep Maria Llibre, a researcher from the Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital, said at a press conference.
The medical expert added that within the next 14 days, six people tested positive for the coronavirus, with four of them definitely getting infected after the event. It is not known where the other two got infected.
"Everyone came to the concert in groups or pairs, but none of the six was infected from the people with them, that is why we do not think that the transmission took place during the concert. These are very good results," the researcher boasted.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, many countries have imposed a strict ban on public events, especially concerts, as the virus is known to spread through the air, and multiple people in close quarters are considered to be most vulnerable. (ANI/Sputnik)