No Substantial Outbreaks Found After Mass Pilot Events

The Government have reported on the results of the ‘mass pilot events’ held earlier this year claiming there were ‘no substantial outbreaks’ of Covid-19 linked to these events where a total of 58,000 people attended.

From these 58,000 spectators, 28 confirmed cases of Covid-19 were recorded from the programme, with 11 people suspected to be infectious at an event, with a further 17 identified as potentially infected at or around the time of an event.

However, as each participant was asked to do a rapid lateral flow test before attending an event, and was only guaranteed entry if they were given a negative result 36 hours before it started, it's thought that positive cases could have been missed by lateral flow devices, meaning the true number of infections could be higher.

To help combat the problem of missed infections, participants were also asked to complete a voluntary PCR test before and after the event, which can catch 'false negative' results from lateral flow devices, however, only 15 percent of participants complied, so the true number of people who caught Covid at an event could be much higher.

Whilst concerns have been raised over the validity of the data and questions have been raised over how events can go forward safely in future, the government has said the report will ‘help’ event hosts to plan for safe mass audience participation as the country moves out of lockdown restrictions.

The Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden said: “Our innovative and science led Events Research Programme is helping us to better understand how the risk of transmission at major events can be effectively mitigated.

“The findings and learnings will help event organisers plan for large audiences as we move to Step 4 of the roadmap.”

The report stated: “However, that cases were identified indicates that even with entry conditional on a negative LFT result in the 36 hours before the event, some people who are potentially infectious will still be admitted, indicating a need for robust outbreak control procedures to be in place,” the report concluded.

“A total of 28 positive cases have been identified to date potentially related to the pilots undertaken, of which 11 were identified as potentially infectious at an event and a further 17 were identified as potentially infected at or around the time of an event. Contact tracing was used to identify contacts of those who tested positive,” the report added.

“However, these figures should be interpreted with extreme caution given the very low return rate of pre- and post-event PCR tests (only 15 percent returned both tests), the low prevalence at the time of the studies and the lack of a comparator group for the studies.”

The report concluded that both indoor and outdoor events carry levels of transmission risk but the greatest risk areas are at 'pinch points', such as exits, toilets, and corridors. It added that mask-wearing and social distancing compliance were very good throughout, and participants seemed happy to complete pre-event tests and questionnaires.

The ‘mass participation events from which this data was obtained were held between April, 17th and May 15th and included:-

• World Snooker Championships - 10,150 attendance
• FA Cup Semi Final - 2,800 attendance
• Carabao Cup Final – 7,800 attendance
• ACC Business Event, Liverpool – 150 attendance
• Circus Nightclub over two nights – 3,100 and 3,900 attendance
• Sefton Park Concert – 6,100 attendance
• The BRITS – 3,500 attendance
• FA Cup Final – 21,000 attendance
• Reunion 5K Run – 2,000 attendance